Backwoods
by Ljiljana
Summary: Seeking answers is worth it. In the end. AU, yaoi
1. Prologue

**Title: **_Backwoods_

**Pairing: **Naruto & Sasuk**e**

**Rating: **MA

**Genre: **Horror

**Notes:** AU, so no spoilers. It will be disturbing at times, so please don't read if you're sensitive.

I thought I should apologize for starting yet another story without finishing those in progress already, but I won't. In my opinion, it is much greater sin to let a story go to waste before it ever got a chance, and I will finish all of my stories anyway. In what order probably depends on you just as much as it depends on me.

I hope you'll like it!

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**Backwoods**

Prologue

It is pretty much ridicules to stop your motorcycle in the middle of a lonely road on the very edge of the world, or even further, just so you could take one more look at a photograph. Naruto already knew everything on it, every tree, every shadow, every little stone at the base of a roughly craved gravestone and even the exact shape of the cloud that found its way into the scene by pure accident. He knew it so well; he could describe every detail with his eyes closed.

Nonetheless, Naruto stopped by the road, took his helmet off and fetched the photo from the front pocket of his jacket. He glanced at the site, but what really wanted his attention was the word written on the back side, _Konoha_.

Handwriting itself was unfamiliar, branded forcefully into the paper, with the vertical slant and perfectly formed words. But as every other time Naruto saw it, a wave of mild nausea washed over him. It was familiar, the word felt almost, but not quite sweet on his tongue, like a chocolate cake from behind the window of a shop. Naruto thought, for who knows what time, that if he could just close his eyes and reach, he would remember it not as a small town in the middle of the rich forest Google search came up with, but as something more significant, something _his_. Very aware he's doing it, _again_, and on some strange road instead of on the bed back in his dorm, Naruto closed his eyes and tried to see it.

_Konoha_….

But aside from the feeling of familiarity and even stronger nausea, just like every other time, there was nothing. Naruto sighed and climbed back on the bike, tucking the photo on the safe place again. There's nothing for it, and he knew it, no matter what he told Gaara to convince him he was not stupid enough to fall for an obvious provocation. This was not a prank. This was not about yet another moron who thought Naruto's shady history is a laughing matter, or something to be afraid of. He was going to that town. He had to; he kept seeing strange blurry outlines of it in his dreams ever since he had opened the yellow envelope and saw the picture, and he knew every time those restless dreams woke him up that he had to go to Konoha. He had to see, he had to remember.

Naruto was never closer to his memories. Never, for the ten years since he woke up in the hospital unable to even lift his hand without a great effort and with his life and identity completely wiped out from his brain, he had a feeling of familiarity about anything. Well, there was once some stranger in a bathroom of a bar, but he disappeared before Naruto could react and ask questions, and this - this was solid, this photo… it was a clue. A real trace of hope.

All the answers Naruto ever wanted were just behind that unmarked gravestone, in the name on the back, in the person that left the photo in his mailbox. Naruto had to find out. He had to know who he was, who his parents are – _were_. He had to find out why was he left in the emergency room of the city hospital, full of bruises and covered in dry blood, with only a dirty sheet of paper with a name nurses decided to adopt as his own.

It was maybe insane, but Konoha seemed like a key for all his mysteries. For night walks he couldn't remember, for the strange markings on his body that he was sometimes waking up with, odd sores and maybe even for the nightmares full of grotesque shadows and corpses. And even if Konoha wasn't the solution, Naruto was definitely feeling better when he was moving, trying to solve it all – even if the price was to be expelled from the university.

Naruto added more power into the engine and a satisfying roar accompanied the burst of speed down the road that definitely saw better days. According to the map and the old man back at the last gas station, Konoha was just behind that hill.

_Konoha… I'm almost there._

It has been a long time since the last time Naruto was nervous about something, but right then, it felt as if butterflies in his stomach grew teeth. Was he fooling himself? Or there were really answers waiting for him beyond this road?

Naruto added to the speed, despite of being unfamiliar with this freeway surrounded with the claustrophobically thick woods from both sides. After all, the sooner he arrived, the sooner he could start asking questions.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Town was probably a word too grand to describe this place, just like the word 'forest' was a too humble to describe the immeasurable ocean of green that was surrounding it. It was two large roads, unreasonably wide, crossing in the middle, and a handful of smaller streets, some of them dead ends by the look of it. The main street was descending toward the river under agonizingly dull angle; maybe sharp enough to send a baby carriage down to the riverbank, but not to make walking to the opposite direction a useful exercise. Beyond the yellow bridge structure, there was nothing but a veil of green; everything remotely urban this town had was on this shore. The sun was already high in the sky, bright and warm, making the late morning blurry on the edges and asphalt liquid on places as only summer could.

Naruto decided that a restaurant, the only one he saw around, was a good place to start. He left his bike across from it, in front of one from the group of identical business buildings, with not very imaginative trade names for the small law firm, the local general practitioner and funeral home. It was a clean little place, with white tablecloths and walls that looked like inside of a log cabin. Only a few tables were taken, even though it was still breakfast time, so Naruto chose one of those closer to the windows, still eager to absorb as much of the sun as possible after the rain season that ended just a few days ago back in the city.

"Hi." The waitress said, making her way to his table with the enthusiasm and familiarity almost inappropriate. "What can I get you?"

She was tall, blond and skinny, with hair as bright as his was, gathered up in a ponytail. Naruto could see curiosity burning in her eyes - they probably had a very few visitors here - but not any kind of recognition. The tag on her chest read 'Ino'. Deciding she is most likely the type to gossip, with her open, cheerful and friendly manner, Naruto gave her a wide smile.

"Oh, I don't know. What's your special?"

The girl reacted oddly for a second there, frowning in some mild confusion, but she shook it off professionally and grinned back. "We're known for our French pancakes."

Naruto, with only a vague idea that being 'French' those pancakes might not be something he would like, ordered. "That sounds good. I'll try it."

Ino went with his order to the kitchen, but she came out soon enough to join her coworker, a woman in mid thirties, in watching Naruto over the counter. They were whispering something to each other, hiding the words behind the hands, but Naruto was not uncomfortable. He was used to people talking about him, pointing and laughing. It was better then those who were turning their heads meekly to the other side from fear, because that kind of behavior Naruto just couldn't understand. He had never done anything violent or insane to make people afraid, but some of them they still managed to find something about him that was frightening.

When Ino brought him a plate of odd thin pancakes, rolled like tiny carpets, with golden colored marmalade leaking from one end, he asked. "Do you have any hotels here?"

She beamed. "You're staying? There are no real hotels, we don't get that much people visiting, but we have an inn, just around the corner. It's not very luxurious, but it's clean. My best friend's parents are owners."

_Do I look like luxurious type? _Naruto wondered. He had money, savings he'd managed from late night side jobs for an opportunity like this one, but they could hardly be considered generous and staying at Gaara's house a night or two a month couldn't wash away all the years spent in the orphanage and the constant heavy pressure of his past. She was probably repeating the same thing she was giving to anyone who dropped by; maybe they didn't have many visitors, but as far as Naruto could tell, this was the only restaurant. "Around the corner?"

"Yes," Ino confirmed. "The first corner on the left. You can't miss the sign."

Naruto thanked her and went back to trying to figure out how to eat his breakfast. Early that morning, he started his trip from the motel in one of the towns lined up on the highway he had to take to come here, but the excitement was disagreeing with his stomach, so for once he couldn't eat as soon as he woke up. The pancakes turned out to be good, very sweet - once Naruto decided to give up utensils and eat with his hands.

A voice from somewhere above and behind him startled him out of humming quietly at every bite. "How long are you planning to stay?"

A bit startled and surprised at the straightforwardness, Naruto turned a little, and the man stepped to the right. He was tall and not very old, maybe around thirty, but with wild hair completely white. Sometimes, Naruto had heard somewhere, when people go through extreme fear their hair can turn gray overnight. This man had a wary look in his eyes, but nothing else about him suggested he knew such terror.

Careful that his tone does not come across as rude, as it surly would if he was to talk the way he wanted, Naruto asked in turn: "Why are you asking?"

The man walked around Naruto, and the table, to sit in the free chair, taking his wallet out of the front pocket of an old green vest. The police badge he let Naruto glance at sparkled in the sunlight as if it was made of gold.

"It's my job to ask. How long are you planning to stay?"

Maybe it was that for some odd reason he liked this person on the first sight, or because the look in his eyes had a faint sorrowful lining, but Naruto found himself compelled to tell the truth. "I don't know."

"Are you visiting someone here?" was the next question. Naruto shook his head. "Were you planning to camp out in the woods? Because that is forbidden, those woods are private property."

"No. I just… I want to find some answers, that's all."

Gray-haired man leaned forward, with his eyes narrowed. "Answers? So you are on some sort of self discovering road trip?"

Yeah, that was a good way to describe it. Road trip of self-discovery. It had a nice, promising ring, and Naruto really hoped he was on the right track to discover more about himself.

"Yeah, something like that."

A short silence followed, so Naruto used the time this man took to think about it to go back to his pancakes. He could feel hard, measuring gaze on him; calculating, judging him. That was not enough to beat his appetite, even if he was, for a change, feeling discomfort from the sympathetic glint the eyes of this man that had started to show.

"Alright, then. Make sure you don't get into some trouble."

Getting up, even though he wasn't eating or drinking anything, the man threw a rather big bill on the table. Naruto, who was chewing, widened his eyes in question. All he got in turn was a nod before the cop turned and walked out of the restaurant. Ino was there before Naruto could recover and stop watching through the window at his back.

"Hey, what did Kakashi want? Are you in some trouble?" She asked, eagerly. Naruto felt the laughter bubbling in his chest.

"What, you never saw it before? When the sheriff says to the new guy not to make trouble in his town, or else?"

Ino blinked. "Or else what? Was he threatening you?"

"Ino." Naruto said, nodding at her name plate. "The pancakes were great, once I figured out how to eat them. Make sure chef gets my compliments, okay?"

She smiled, professional smile that failed to reach her eyes completely, and Naruto left her like that.

Kakashi, huh? Well, Kakashi didn't seem like a person to threaten people for no reason. And he bought Naruto a meal. And Ino was nice. This was a good start, wasn't it?

The distance to the hotel was hardly worth of starting the engine, it was so close. The sign would, in fact, be easy to miss, if you didn't know what you were looking for. It was hidden from the main street behind a cute maple tree, old and made of pale wood. Naruto left his motor on the little parking in front of the house, even though he could see the private – and empty one - behind.

"Aaah,' Someone said from close behind him, and Naruto had to smile. He was more then used to and still very happy about that particular reaction to his motorcycle. "Isn't that a thing of beauty! I don't suppose you'd want to change it for a twenty years old Ford's pick-up with bad brakes?"

Naruto turned to take a look at where the guy was showing. The pick-up truck he was talking about was indeed old, but not in such bad condition. If the bike wasn't a present, he might have had considered it. After all, he doesn't really have a home, and you can much easier get off the rain when you own a truck then a bike.

"If you include the dog into that offer, I might think about it." Naruto said, eyeing the gorgeous mastiff, who was resting at the pick up's bed, with his paw over the edge and tongue out.

"No, no way! Your bike might be neat, but Akamaru brings me the remote when I ask." The guy was grinning widely. Naruto thought he would look blood-related to his dog, if not for his dark hair and tanned skin.

He grinned right back. "It really would be a shame to lose something so useful. Mastiff, right?"

"Half mastiff, but you were close." Visibly happy Naruto liked his dog, the guy offered his hand. "Kiba."

"Naruto." He gave his name in turn, and accepted the handshake, not able to shake of the small voice that kept saying inside his head _good start, good start, you're doing so good_…

Kiba stroked the side of the bike carefully. "It's a bit too dark, I think – no offence."

Naruto took of saddlebags off the seat, because he had to use them for personal items that wouldn't fit into his backpack and laughed. "Yeah, that's what I said. But the friend who gave it to me insisted I already have too many bright things and that I would look good on this."

Well, what Gaara actually said after Naruto asked him to borrow his bright orange bike, the one that was not even used because of its color, was that he won't be seen with someone on something that bright and offered this one, the entirely black _Kawasaki Ninja_. Naruto laughed at him, of course. Such nonsense of someone who needed Naruto to drag him out of the house! And he had protested, _a lot_, when Gaara insisted he keeps the bike after seeing how wonderfully it was taken care of. But by then, Naruto was too attached and besides, he will find a way to make up for it to his friend. Somehow.

"So, you moved to Konoha or what?" Kiba asked.

"Not exactly." Pointing at the inn, Naruto added. "I'm planning to stay here for a while, though."

Kiba glanced at his extra long backpack. "You're not planning to go into the woods to camp, right? They are private property and owners are a bunch of cold-blooded assholes."

Serious, angry words made Naruto glad he really wasn't here for camping. This was the second time he was warned off the woods in the last half an hour. There must be a good reason, especially in the place that had nothing else to offer, aside from products of the local sawmill.

"Nah." He reassured Kiba. "I get lost on my way to the bathroom, these woods look huge."

Relief was obvious on Kiba's face. Naruto didn't like it at all.

"Come on, I'll go inside with you. I think it's just Sakura in right now."

Naruto followed Kiba inside. The building that looked so plain on the outside, painted in pale yellow, turned into something completely amazing just on the other side of the door. All the furniture in the hallway and in the open guests dining room was made of light wood, even the reception desk looked as if it was made by hand. Instead of paintings, the walls were decorated with engravings of hunter parties and deer with beautiful antlers, some in run, some calmly drinking water from the small river. The scenes were captivating in its richness so Naruto found himself watching carefully every detail before he was even aware he had stopped.

"This is so beautiful." He had to say aloud, to share his impression.

Kiba was very uninterested when he answered. "Yeah. We don't get to go hunting, though. My mother still can't get over that."

"Well, I'm not so fond of hunting." Naruto answered, not taking his eyes off the elegant lines, curves of nature captures in the wooden plate he was watching at the moment. "But this is beautiful, this engravings. It's perfect, the way nature was presented, bent and asymmetric trees but perfectly done deer and people."

"All rooms have them as well." Kiba said, somewhat impatiently, so Naruto finally snapped out of it. He will be staying here, chances were, so he'll have many opportunities to watch them.

The old-fashioned bell was standing out proudly on the counter, so Naruto couldn't resist, he hit it with his palm several times, laughing.

Kiba, with his mood improved, warned him. "Don't over do it, Sakura has a mean punch."

But the bell ringed sweetly, not very loud and so melodic, that Naruto had to hit it again, thinking he was better off getting it out of his system. The door somewhere on the other side of the dining room closed.

"Lee!" Female voice boomed through the inn. "Stop molesting my bell! I told you a thousand times, you _can_ go inside the library without announcing yourself, it's a public…"

The voice stopped as she walked out into the hall. She frowned at the two of them, just glancing shortly at Kiba before her big green eyes stopped at Naruto. She opened her mouth, and Naruto felt his heart skip once. _She knows me, I know she does…_

"Naruto?" She whispered – Sakura, Kiba said, her name was Sakura and she recognized him! "Naruto, is that you?"

"Um," Naruto answered. His heart, once it started ticking again, was apparently trying to catch a bullet train. "Yeah. I think so."

But even thought he was still confused and insecure, Sakura wasn't; she ran across the room, laughing happily and threw herself at him. Naruto closed his arms around her instinctively, squeezing back.

"Alright." He could hear Kiba's amused snort over her shoulder. "I'll take it you two know each other."

Naruto meant to answer him, but Sakura let go of him, only to take his chin into her hand. "God, Naruto, I know you were a kid and all, but you could have called me, or something. We were so worried about you! We didn't know where you were…"

"Wait, wait," Kiba interrupted her, very serious now, and grabbed Naruto's shoulder. "Naruto? You mean, our Naruto?"

Naruto wanted to cry. He couldn't, because that is not a thing someone like him should do, but he wanted to cry. This girl, Sakura, wasn't hiding her tears, she was obviously happy to see him, and this guy, this nice pleasant guy with a gorgeous dog and a nice pick-up, they knew him. They remembered him. And he couldn't remember them.

"Um." He said, when it was obvious they were waiting for him to say something. "Hi."

Sakura promptly hit him in the shoulder. "Don't you 'hi' me! You disappeared when your parents died! We thought you got lost in the woods and something ate you!"

So, his parents were dead. Naruto hoped they weren't, of course, but he wanted to be loved as well. His parents being alive would mean they hadn't loved him enough to try hard enough to find him. Still, it stung a bit.

"And why didn't you say anything?" Kiba demanded. "Or you forgot me completely?"

That wasn't really fair. "You didn't recognize me as well!"

"Yes, I did. I though as soon as I saw you looked exactly like Naruto would if he grew up, but I thought – we all thought you're dead. Where were you?"

That question was obviously something that both of then wanted answered, because Sakura stopped trying to make sure he was alive using her hands, and Kiba grow quiet. Naruto was uncomfortable and a bit scared. His story was… not something people liked to head.

"I was in the city, living in the orphanage before I got a scholarship after high school." He said carefully.

Sakura frowned. "But who took you there? No one here knew where you went."

"About that… I don't really know. I can't remember."

"Oh,' Sakura backed off a bit. "Well, of course. You were just a kid, and you just went through a big trauma… But still, you should have called. I'm sure no one would have minded."

"Sakura." Naruto said, tasting her name for the first time. It felt like nothing. It brought nothing with it, just like her shiny, beautiful eyes. "You don't get it. I don't remember who took me out of Konoha. I don't remember Konoha at all. I don't remember the two of you."

He waited a bit to see if it sunk in. Once the confused frowns became deeper, he rushed forward into explanations. "I woke up in the hospital when I was around ten." Well, he woke up all bruised and with odd scratches all over his body but there was no need for gory details. "I couldn't remember anything before that, nothing about myself, where I came from, or about my parents. This was the first time I heard they had died."

Sakura visibly flinched. "Oh." She said again. "I think – I think we should sit down. Drink something? Do you want anything?"

Not waiting for an answer, she quickly marched through the dining room and disappeared behind the door. Kiba and Naruto followed part of the way, and sat at the nearest table. The quiet seemed to have stretched desperately to fill in the void between the two of them, because the rare sounds of cars from the main street were unusually clear. Kiba was watching Naruto, opening his mouth every few seconds as if he was about to say something, but nothing was coming through. It would be fun to watch, if this entire thing wasn't about his life.

Sakura, fortunately, had no similar problems. She dashed back out of what Naruto presumed it was kitchen, with her tray loaded with lemonade and oddly shaped cake of some kind, talking before she even reached the table. "So, you have amnesia? Were you able to talk at all? Or it was just personal things? Did you know your name?"

Naruto's never particularly liked to talk in details about all that, because it always felt as if something was clawing his insides, but now he answered eagerly. "Just personal information. But whoever left me at the hospital, also left a note with my name on it. Naruto, Uzumaki Naruto."

Sakura froze with her hand on the glass, but it was Kiba who said. "I think it was Namikaze. They left you with wrong information."

It felt a bit like he stole a part of Naruto, that statement. He didn't even know his full name? No wonder all the searches were fruitless. Naruto forced his throat. "But it's Naruto, right?"

Sakura smiled at him, strained but sincere, before sitting down. "Yes – I called you by your name before you introduced yourself, remember?"

Yes, that was right. It made the entire thing only slightly better, though. "Right."

"Anyway, you still don't remember anything? How come you're in Konoha, then?"

Naruto reached for his pocket, itching to take the picture out. Sure, he will obviously be able to find out quite a bit about himself, but the person who sent the picture to him knew where he was and how to find him; that person was most likely to know what exactly happened to him. And Sakura – or Kiba – could maybe recognize the handwriting at the back of the photo. But before he had managed to take it out, steps echoed from the hall.

Sakura lifted her head, charming smile beaming off her face. "You're back already? Good, I have a wonderful surprise for you!"

She was standing up while talking, so Naruto stood up as well. A voice from the large two winged doorway just behind Naruto's back answered: "Not another chocolate cake, Sakura. I can't eat any of that crap, it's foul."

Naruto didn't recognize the voice, not at all, but his heart that was already restless raced again at the sound of it. Guessing Sakura meant him and not the cake, and that it was someone he knew in the previous life, Naruto grinned aw widely as he could and turned around…

…_and his lungs hurt so much, but he wouldn't stop, he couldn't. He promised dad, and Naruto was not someone who would go back on his word, not ever. He just wished he could go slower and that it wasn't so dark in the woods and to know why was so important to run, but none of it mattered. Sasuke was running, too and he was somewhere ahead, faster even now, so Naruto gritted his teeth and sped up. The stupid forest was too dark to see everything that was in the way, and he tripped over some branch or something and fell, only barely managing to catch himself on his palms…_

"Are you some kind of idiot?" Annoyed voice snapped him out of the vivid vision of dark moonless forest and Naruto slowly blinked at the guy who was much closer all of the sudden. When did he move? "How can you trip over thin air?"

The vision was fading already, pictures melting into some vague memory of determination, annoyance and fear. Naruto opened his mouth, wanting to say something very rude in turn to this guy who was obviously the greatest asshole this lovely little town had. What came out was a stunned, breathless: "Sasuke?"

Dark eyes - in the mirror, fixed on him – _no wait, what the fuck was that again now?_ - narrowed at him and Naruto realized he was being help upward only when this guy removed his hands from him. He straightened quickly as Sakura said, somewhat bitterly: "Oh, it figures you'd remember _him_."

"I – I don't." Naruto said. It was difficult to turn back to her. He _had_ remembered something just now, but it was not a person, it was running. Running away? But it was already drifting away from him, like a dream would after he'd look through a window after waking up, but he had remembered something, and it happened when he turned to look at this guy – Sasuke, was it? So maybe – maybe if he keeps looking, maybe he will remember something more. Insanely focused, Naruto watched in fascination Sasuke's mouth open and form words.

"I've no idea what you are talking about. I'm going upstairs."

Naruto could hear with one ear Sakura's undignified stuttering and Kiba's mock-whispered "Told you they all are a bunch of assholes," but he couldn't answer, and he couldn't help it but watch Sasuke's back as he turned to walk out.

Naruto wasn't sure what just happened, he wasn't sure about what was he supposed to do next. He only knew that he had to keep looking if he wanted to remember more, so he ignored Sakura's and Kiba's questions and followed Sasuke out.

tbc

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A/N: Alright, the first chapter. Please tell me if I'd managed to ruin those expectations you established (God, is that the right word? I'm so sleepy) after that humble prologue.

For those of you who commented how hot Naruto was on a bike; I tried giving you more details for better pictureing. ;P


	3. Chapter 2

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Chapter Two

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Steps disappeared on the first floor, so Naruto stopped there as well, to take in some air after jumping over three and four stairs at a time, running. The hall to the right was empty when he looked – how quick exactly this – _Sasuke_ had to be for Naruto not to catch up after that mindless run anyway? And why was he in such hurry to get away anyway? All the doors, four of them, were shut, without any traces of which one might have closed just now.

Naruto thought about going back down to ask Sakura about who exactly this guy was and which room was his, but he couldn't make himself turn around. That would take too much time, and he just didn't want to waste it. He just wanted to look at him some more, talk. Naruto knew him, and well enough to simply seeing him again would trigger him like that; there is no other explanation. Which meant that Sasuke knew him in turn; Sakura's reaction was proof enough for that.

Going down was out of question. Maybe this ability to remember things was just a temporary thing; maybe it will fade away with shock. Maybe it was too late already. _No, have some faith, _Naruto thought and instead of going back, he quietly walked from door to door and listened intently.

First two rooms, across from each other, were empty; there was no mistaking the piercing silence behind the doors. Behind the third, though, some odd, low noise was clearly pointing out that someone was inside. Naruto stopped and listened, grateful yet again for his exceptional hearing.

The noise, it turned out, was person using a phone. When a voice on the other side answered, muted enough for Naruto not to make out the words, from behind the door he heard, "Fuck!"

He had the right room, alright. No way would he make a mistake about Sasuke's voice, and _that_ was Sasuke, angry as hell. He wasn't talking to anyone, though; Naruto realized that when he heard the familiar beep. It was just a machine.

But Sasuke's voice was no any less angry, regardless to the effort he obviously invested in sounding calm when he left the message: "You were supposed to _warn_ me."

Warn him about what, Naruto coming? Was he talking to the person who had sent him the picture? Or was he talking about something that happened before he came to the inn? Naruto listened for several more moments, but the only thing he could hear was phone closing. Who-ever it was that the machine belonged to, clearly knew what was is it about. That was frustrating; he will have to ask about it. And Naruto had no hope he would actually get an answer.

Still, he had to try.

Straightening up from a half crouch he couldn't even remember he lowered into, Naruto knocked on the door.

"Fuck off." Sasuke said, not bothering to check who was it, not even bothering to raise his voice much. It was very clear from the tone itself what he felt about having a visit right now – not to mention words.

_Violently rude vs. extremely stubborn, round one_, Naruto thought and knocked again, louder and longer. Nothing. He tried again, practically banging at the thick wood. Steps approached, but Naruto barely had time to straighten his expression when the door flew open.

"What do you want?" Sasuke demanded. Naruto meant to say something smart or witty, and maybe a tiny bit rude. He wanted to be on this guy's good side, to talk to him, to _charm_ him. He never meant to say the complete, honest to God truth, standing on the doorstep, looking and feeling utterly stupid, but Sasuke had the darkest, most compellingly furious eyes.

"I want to find out where I know you from and why you're pretending you don't know me." Sasuke narrowed his eyes and took a sharp breath, like he was preparing to say something not only rude, but also loud this time. Naruto was quicker. "And I also want to know who was it you were trying to call just now."

"None of your business." Sasuke snapped – and Naruto would be willing to give him that, if he wasn't addressing only the last part, because the first obviously had _much_ to do with Naruto. The door silently moved, and Naruto barely made it inside before Sasuke managed to close them. "What are you doing? This is my room, you can't come inside."

Naruto forced his eyes of Sasuke's face red with anger to look around. The room was clean to the point of absurdity, with no private objects in sight. Kiba was right, though. Beautiful engravings were all around, on the bedpost, mirror and window frames, wherever there was some wood. No time for admiring that now.

"I decided to pretend you have some manners. Where do you know me from?"

As he looked back at Sasuke, the way he stuffed his hands into the pockets of his dark blue jeans and the way he was glaring, Naruto knew he won't be getting anything remotely to the honest answer.

"Downstairs. You fell into my arms like a clumsy damsel in distress."

He _had_ tripped, sure, though the memory that came to him was too vivid at the time for Naruto to explain how exactly that happened or why. He wished he could at least remember what he saw, but as it was, he could only feel embarrassed – later, though even at some other time, he would not find that remark particularly insulting. For some reason, he expected more from Sasuke.

The window of Sasuke's room looked above the parking behind the house, at the dead but still upright remaining of a tree. Its branches were completely bare and the bark was dark enough to be confused with black, even on the bright shadowless summer sunlight. _Not the best of all the possible bedroom views_, Naruto was thinking as he said: "Why you're making a big deal out of it? Sakura and Kiba also know me; we were just talking about it."

"You are in my room," Sasuke said, in a flat tone that suggested he was tired of explaining this again, "Without my permission and despite my will. I have no intention of answering your crazy questions. Get _out_."

"No. Not before you answer."

Silence lasted for a second only, before Naruto heard steps going toward the door. He reacted as fast as he could, and blocked Sasuke's exit. Come on, did he think he can just _run_? It's a stupid, silly question.

But when Naruto rose his arm to demonstrate how he was not about to let him out, Sasuke flinched. It was small, very small movement, but Naruto recognized fear easily.

It hurt, for some reason, more then ever before. Naruto had never harmed _anyone_, not even the fucking cockroaches in his first apartment; what the fuck about him was scaring people so? Why would Sasuke be afraid of him? Even if they knew each other as kids, surely Naruto wasn't all that scary _then_?

"Sasuke." He said, wanting to confirm it, wanting to ask why and get an answer for once. "Are you afraid of me?"

Sasuke sneered. It looked attractive on him, as out of place as that thought was. "No. You are trespassing and I want you out of my room."

But the flicker was there, a little look Sasuke cast as if to measure how far away from the door he was and how quickly he could make it to there. They were not even standing very close; there was no way Sasuke was freaked because his personal space was compromised or anything. Naruto clenched his jaw and stepped toward him, testing. Sasuke kept his ground, but let his eyes slide off Naruto to the door again. It was enough.

"You are, you fucking _bastard_!" Naruto said, barely controlling his voice. He wanted to yell and beat the crap out of this – this asshole. But attacking him would be like proving there was a reason for fear after all. He was just angry; angry enough to want a fight, and Sasuke looked as if he would happily fight back. "What could have I possibly done to you to make you flinch away by raising my arm? I don't even kn – I don't even _remember_ you!"

Thankfully, Naruto's – and his own – rage smothered all the fear Sasuke was showing earlier.

"Do you need it spelled out? You are _in_ my room! I want you _out_! How much clearer can I get?"

Naruto's fist still ached for a fight, but he felt incomparably better. Yelling is good. Yelling is always good when you don't know what else to do.

"Fine." He said. "_Fine_. But you will get out of your room sooner or later, and I'll ask you all kinds of questions then." And for the good measure, once again as he was reaching blindly for a doorknob and yanking them open. "Fine!"

In the hallway, Sakura was looking at him wide eyed and Kiba was peering over her shoulder. They seemed mostly confused – not _afraid, _because they had _no reason to be _– so Naruto felt somewhat better for it as well.

"I'm sorry." He said, before they asked anything. "I guess I'm too impatient. I walked into his room without permission, he was kind of angry."

Kiba's mouth quirked into a smile.

"He can be a little – hard to talk to." Sakura said, and Naruto thought she should be a bit more worried about the racket and disturbance, not look so - _glad_ about them fighting. He kept quiet, grateful she was not kicking him out. "Here, we have your things and your set of keys. The room is right there."

The door she pointed out was the furthest always from Sasuke's, but in a tight hall with four rooms, that was just several feet away.

Pushing away disappointment about being unable to get anything from Sasuke – not memories, not even a simple conversation, Naruto smiled as convincingly as he could and followed Sakura into his room. There was no sun peeking inside, so it would probably be bright in the mornings. The wood was darker then it was down in the lobby and engravings were just as beautiful.

After listening to Sakura's explanations about ground rules and bedroom use, he had to ask. "Where do I know him from? You said…"

She said something earlier about not being surprised Naruto remembered Sasuke.

"It's a small place. Everyone knows everyone here. We all went to school together." Her tone was too careful, very flat and balanced. Even Kiba gave her an odd look from beside the door, where he was standing.

Naruto didn't really believe her. "And that's all?"

"No, not really. You two were – oh, I don't know, together all the time. Best friends and all."

"Yeah, and Sakura used to chase you a lot." Kiba added, snickering. "I remember it now - after a while, she was so determined to make you be friends with her that you had to start to back up into the woods."

Sakura's expression was stormy, with hints of thunder. She was just a little girl back then, but it probably wasn't the best feeling to know people you wanted to be friends with were running away from you. Naruto decided to change the subject.

"I thought those woods were off limits."

Kiba's darkening expression made him want to hit his head. So, no talking about Sasuke's and Naruto's friendship around Sakura, and don't mention the woods to Kiba. Don't try to be funny with Ino. Oh, and don't talk _at all_ to Sasuke. Anything else, Konoha?

"Not for the owner's son, they're not."

It took only a second for Naruto to connect things. So, the woods belonged to Sasuke's family? He must be rich. So why…

"Why is he here then? Don't they have a house or something?"

The track that conversation took now agreed better with Sakura, she was the one to answer, leaning closer conspiratorially: "He fights with his father a lot. Every few months, at least, so he comes here to stay until things cool down a little. Mum gave up on renting that room completely, even when the mill has business associates staying with us."

While she was talking, Kiba closed the door. He continued when Sakura finished: "They were always like that, that family. Itachi – that's Sasuke older brother – was always fighting with his father as well, he ran away from the house when he was fifteen…" Wait, wait, what was that? What was that look Sakura gave Kiba just now? It was like she was scorning him for telling too much.

"But this time, I think Sasuke has a reason to be mad." Kiba said, changing the subject slightly. Naruto didn't want to risk their talkative mood, so he kept quiet. He wanted to know what they were hiding, but also about Sasuke. "His father brought his sister's children to live with them. If the rumor is true, he wants to make the nephew his heir, because he doesn't believe Sasuke would run the mill and the land as he's supposed to and Itachi was never even heard about in years."

"That's just a rumor." Sakura dismissed it. "But they – the cousins – are really staying the summer. I met the older girl; she was very nice, although shy. A real rest for my ears after too many years of Ino."

Naruto, who was bouncing off the mattress a little to check how soft it was, waited for Kiba to pick up, or something, but they both fell silent. No matter, they were chatty – and if he was careful, he could maybe even extract that bit about Itachi they didn't want him to know about from Kiba later – so he decided to let it rest for now.

"Ino from the restaurant? I met her earlier. And Kakashi, the cop? They seemed nice."

Naruto almost groaned aloud when Sakura threw another one of those warning looks to Kiba, but thankfully, he missed it completely.

"You met Kakashi? So how come he didn't tell you more about your parents?"

The wave of sadness washed over Naruto, and the careful – if not entirely conscious – avoiding of the subject went to waste. "Oh?" He asked, sounding somehow small and frightened even to himself. "I'm not sure if he recognized me, I didn't say anything. He knew – he knew my parents well?"

Green Sakura's eyes were huge with sympathy and a bit teary while Kiba pretended he was suddenly very interested in wood engravings on the doorframe.

"He still lives next door to your old house. If someone knows a lot about them, it's…"

"Jiraiya!" Kiba cut her off, a satisfied grin all over his face. "He will be so happy to see you! He is…"

"An old pervert." Sakura interrupted Kiba in turn, glaring hard enough to make a black hole of his face. Then she turned back to Naruto, expression softer. "But he probably knows the most about your parents. You should talk to him."

God, but that sounded good. To know more about his parents, to find out more about himself, about what happened. He will go to them, to whoever knew him. He will make them remember every detail he possibly can, it didn't matter how long it would last. Maybe some of them had a picture, maybe they knew…

"…Their names?" Naruto's voice was so small, even he had a hard time hearing it, so he tried again, though judging from the expressions on his friend's faces, they got it. "Could you tell me their names?"

Sakura swallowed to clear her throat that Naruto suspected was as loaded as his own was. "Your mother's was Kushina, I remember that. She was my favorite librarian, always so nice."

Librarian. His mother, Kushina, was a librarian in this small, beautiful town. So normal, so perfect. She was _nice, _Sakura said. So Naruto was not a freak, he was just an orphan, because his parents died. There was nothing _wrong_ with him, or with them.

"And my father?"

But Kiba and Sakura were looking at each other helplessly. It made sense; they were kids, probably calling his parents Mr. and Mrs. Uzu - Namikaze. Uh, that was going to take some getting used to.

"Never mind, I'll ask Kakashi – or that Jiraiya guy."

Kiba brightened instantly. "And you can do it tonight!"

Well, Naruto had no plans to make it exactly fun as Kiba made it sound it would be, but he was curious about what picked up his mood, because Sakura smiled a little as well.

"Tonight?" He prompted.

"Yes! We all go to "The Flirting Paradise" tonight – well, every evening – and you have to come. You'll be able to talk to Jiraiya."

"He's owns the bar." Sakura added.

Naruto found himself smiling. Yeah, a bar sounded nice. Name of it not so much, it was kind of funny, but a prospect of alcohol… He might need some… _extra_ strength, to get through all this, to soften a hard day around the edges before bed. And if the owner was the man who knew his parents best, that was even better. He had to ask, though he already made up his mind.

"Who's 'we all'?"

"_Everybody_." Kiba elaborated helpfully, making Sakura roll her eyes.

"He really means it, actually. Everyone old enough to buy alcohol and not married is there every single night." She said. "You should come. People would want to see you."

"Okay."

When Naruto agreed, she stood up as if the sound of his voice reminded her of something. Pushing Kiba toward the door, she explained. "You should unpack; have a shower, or whatever. Settle in, we won't bug you any longer – well, not until later."

Grinning at the sight of her trying to make Kiba go out first, Naruto repeated: "Okay," Which didn't stop Kiba from yelling before the door closed that he will come by around eight to pick him up.

Alone in the room, all the sadness and hope returned full force. This trip was going so much better then he dared to hope – Gaara will want to hear all about it, but Naruto was not in the mood to call him just yet. First, he needed to gather more information and think things through.

He had names now, real names to attach to his parents. He will soon talk to more people who knew them, people who know Naruto. And he even remembered something…

Also, Sasuke was interesting. Well, he was annoying, and an asshole – not to mention a bastard for being afraid of him - but interesting. Best friend? Like, the best of all friends, as Gaara is now? Doesn't that mean that even if that Jiraiya knew the most about his parents, Sasuke should be the one to know the most about Naruto himself? Then why that attitude, why the fear?

_You don't know if that was about you at all_, Naruto reminded himself. _He was fighting with his father, maybe he was angry because of that, and you came about at the wrong moment._

But that wasn't explaining the fear. Or maybe if he thought his father had something to do with Naruto coming back… No, that's stupid. He didn't like Naruto at all, that's it. And whatever was it that made people throw him out of the apartment, or back up wide eye from him in the street, Sasuke saw it, too. Maybe he was right, maybe Naruto was something foul, something to freak about. Maybe Kiba and Sakura and Ino will see it as well soon, maybe Sasuke is just more observant.

_Don't be ridiculous_, Naruto snapped at himself, taking his shoes off, because he lay down on the bed without even noticing. _You are nothing special, in neither a good nor a bad way. You did nothing wrong. Maybe Sasuke is just insane – or you imagined it all._

To distract himself from the inner discussion, Naruto took a closer look at the engraving in the wood post over his bed. The scene was also one settled on a little clearing surrounded by thick forest. Wild animals, some even unlikely to be from around this area – deer, bear, wolf, squirrel, raccoon and [was that last one a fox?] and some others – were all making a perfect circle in the perfectly circled clearing, all facing each other.

It was kind of weird to see wild animals like some trained dogs on a dog show, acting so alike. It almost felt like they were having a conference – weren't dolphins doing something like that? Making a circle and uh, talking? But even if that interesting fact from the edge of his memory was true, dolphins were all same species, and this was just so unnatural. What was the artist thinking? That it was amusing?

Naruto jerked on the sudden noise. After some of the sleep creped out of his sight, Naruto noticed that the light in the room was much duller, reddish and fading. Not only had he fallen asleep with his cloths on, on top of the sheets, but he slept for a long time, and peacefully, too.

"Naruto! I told you I'd pick you up. You're not asleep, are you?" Kiba called from the other side of the door.

Yes, Kiba, bar, Jiraiya, other people he knew – Naruto grinned and got up, informing Kiba he will come down as soon as he takes a shower and changes his clothes. The bathroom was to be shared with the next door room, but that was thankfully empty, so he had it for himself.

When he was finished, the evening was already dark enough to turn on the lights, but Naruto hadn't bothered. He just made sure the picture was in his pocket before he walked out, shaking his head a little when he realized he never even showed it to anyone yet. All this emotional storms were making him forgetful.

Walking past Sasuke's door, Naruto slowed down. Kiba said _everyone_, but that was not an insurance he meant Sasuke too should be at the bar, not with the obvious dislike. He couldn't tell if there was anyone in the room, though. Sounds were always awkward in the twilight, just before they'd come back to full life with the darkness. Naruto sped up again.

He will just have to go and see exactly who will be there, and what will he find out.

* * *


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Darkness was thicker in Konoha than anywhere else Naruto has been to before in his life. Walking next to Kiba – Sakura had stayed behind, with a promise to follow shortly – down the street toward the river, Naruto's arms under the sleeves of his jacket were covered in goose bumps.

The only light was coming from the lampposts. They were too short, with yellow beams turned downright to the ground. Every single light ball in the entire long line of lampposts was on, glowing steadily, which should have made the eerie atmosphere easier but it only made Naruto feel worse. What kind of place had no colorful neon signs, not even over the restaurant, no light left on in the shops and stores, but it had streetlights flawlessly set?

Without the moonlight, the entire dark sky above their heads seemed like an endless black hole. There would be rain tomorrow, or at least it should not be as hot as it was today.

"It's just down on the river bank." Kiba chatted. "It took Jiraiya years to get a permission to open it, and it's the only place around here to go out now. Which means _everything_ is there."

Sly grin was a clear sign that Kiba wanted to talk more about it, so Naruto prompted. "Everything?"

"Yeah, you know. _We_ go there, but it's also the only place you can find drugs and prostitution around here." Kiba sounded oddly proud, and Naruto wondered if he should be amused by it. "Not that we have a lot of either one. This place is boring to live in."

If Kiba expected to get Naruto's sympathy on the subject, he was complaining to the wrong guy. Life in the city was awful. The air always smelled badly, because of the one thing or another, people were all alike, sickly pale and in a hurry, and as fun as it was to go out with Gaara sometimes, Naruto didn't appreciate horrible headaches followed by a memory lapses. He'd lost too much of his life already to waste it.

But Naruto didn't want to counter Kiba on an inane thing like that, so he went along.

"It is kind of small. And the woods from all around are making it claustrophobic."

"I will get out of here one day." Kiba solemnly vowed, scanning the black outlines of the thick tree lines across the river. Then he snapped out of it and grinned. "But you coming here is fun, too. There it is."

Lower then the ground the two of them were standing on, but high enough not to be swallowed by a flood, plain one story building was laying so close to the river that the bright, mostly pink "_The Flirting Paradise_" sign was reflecting on the water. Finally, neon! The low, very low buzz of music, Bono surging through the very climax of**_ If God Will Send His Angels_****, reached them with a light swift of river wind.** For both of it, Naruto felt better right away.

"I like it." He said, grinning. Kiba grinned back.

Stepping carefully, they descended down the narrow path toward the entrance.

Barely over the threshold, still admiring handmade 'open/closed' sign, Naruto found himself grabbed. It took him several seconds to regain his composure – people don't just run to hug the shit out of him every day – and then he recognized the blond pony tail.

"Hi, Ino." He said into her hair. "Mind freeing my arms so I could hug you back?"

But she stepped away, laughing. "Next time, maybe. You can buy me a drink, though."

She led Naruto and a smirking Kiba to the corner where several tables were pushed together to make a large one. Naruto liked the place. It was spacey enough not to be too stuffy, the white paint on the walls and wooden chairs gave it a comfortable feeling. People around glanced at him and Kiba going in, but after that simple curiosity was fulfilled, they went back to their drinks and conversations Naruto could easily pick up under the low volume of the music.

Smiling happily at his surroundings, Naruto almost missed Ino asking. "Where's Sakura? She said she'd come with you."

Naruto had no idea why she lingered behind, but Kiba answered for him anyway. "She's trying to drag Sasuke out again."

Sitting down, Ino snorted. "He won't be coming if he doesn't feel like it. I've no idea why is she wasting her time."

Kiba nodded to her, and then turned to introduce Naruto to the people at the table. There was a guy with really thick eyebrows among them, who almost jumped from the enthusiasm as Kiba introduced him. Almost like a deliberate contrast, a guy next to him made a face while lifting his hand, like he was bored and it took too much unnecessary effort to shake hands. But his eyes were sharp and clear, and Naruto had no problems smiling at them. They seemed really nice.

No one else was there, but the chairs dragged to the two joined table were suggesting more were coming. Naruto gratefully picked a chair so he could sit with his back to the wall. It was always a good policy to be able to see the entire room when it was full of strangers, even if it was unlikely people here would make trouble, start a fight or something like that. It was a matter of habit, and Naruto always felt uncomfortable when he had to sit and leave his back exposed to the crowd.

Two rounds of odd yellowish drinks that had burned Naruto right down to his feet before he managed to get a little bit used to the sharp, hot taste, he was not allowed to pay. The difference of the third round was that he was allowed to choose his drink, so he asked for something, _anything_ that had no alcohol in it.

He had asked Kiba impatiently several time about Jiraiya guy, because no matter how comfortable it was, and how nice these people were, Naruto was feeling anxious, and like he had wasted too much time already. Kiba promised he would tell him the moment Jiraiya shows up, but before that happened the door of the bar opened once more and Sakura walked in.

And Sasuke was with her.

Naruto had to grab the edge of the chair so he wouldn't stand up, but there was nothing he could do to stop himself from staring. Nothing happened, there were no sudden visions, but his heart was stuck half way up his throat, trying to suffocate him with every loud beat. Sasuke didn't even spare him a glance as he set at the other side of the table, while Sakura took a chair at his side, smiling softly at Naruto.

In the light shadow of her hair, Sakura's was a really pleasant sight. Naruto could not resist but smile back at her.

Kiba was already drunk. Not much, but he was a bit louder then usual, with his eyes shiny and restless. He distracted Naruto, talking about random things, like girls and, more importantly, it seemed, dogs. It was easy to talk to him, easy to let go and enjoy, and for a while, Naruto really forgot everything else, even if he couldn't help but glance occasionally to where Sakura was sitting next to Sasuke, trying to start conversation unsuccessfully.

His attention tore off Kiba completely when he heard Sakura say his name.

She was whispering: "…Naruto is now there, too. I don't know why, but he _was_ asking me about when he came and how long he would stay. Maybe that will help."

Even though he was purposely watching the edge of the table so he'd concentrate better on the conversation, Naruto caught a startled stare Sasuke flashed at Sakura with a corner of his eye. "He _what_?"

"Well, he said he won't pay your bills…" Sakura said in a tone that suggested she was repeating herself yet again. Naruto was almost sure Sasuke reacted on the part where she said someone was asking after him.

"He doesn't need to pay my bills, Sakura. I have money."

Sakura shifted uncomfortably, but her tone was so soft, so gentle. "Yeah, and you know we'd keep you even if you couldn't pay. But if your father decides he is angry with us…"

She trailed off, but Naruto thought he knew. Didn't someone say Sasuke's family owned half of the town? If a person with so much influence decided he doesn't like local inn giving a room to his son when he is misbehaving, he could have them closed for business. Even if only to cut Sasuke a way to get away from his family for a while.

"You won't have to worry about that for much longer." Sasuke answered, with such certainty in his voice that it made Naruto give in and look carefully at his face. He was surprised to see Sasuke already looking at him. Sakura opened her mouth to say something, but Sasuke asked before she managed: "What was he asking you about Naruto?"

Naruto quickly returned his gaze to the table and caught his breath, so he wouldn't miss the answer. For some reason, just because of the way Sasuke reacted to it, it seemed important.

"Nothing special, you know. Like everyone else. I've been on the phone the entire afternoon, talking to the entire town, it feels. I kept expecting Jiraiya to run in the inn and demand to see him…"

"Sakura." Sasuke interrupted her, sharply. "What did _my father_ want to know?"

"I told you already! When he came to town, did he say why, how he's like…" Sakura paused, and Naruto glanced up just enough to see her frown. "And he told me a story about how he broke your toy once and you didn't want to talk to him for an entire month." She giggled. "That sounds like you."

"Shut up." Sasuke more muttered then anything. "I was five. And he broke it on purpose."

"Hey," Naruto almost jolted. He didn't notice Kiba leaning to him at all until there was a voice in his ear. "There's Jiraiya."

Following Kiba's nod, Naruto saw an older man with a broomcorn of gray hair. He was taking seat at the table closes to bar, across from a blonde woman with a cleavage inappropriate for her age.

Naruto leaned back to Kiba. "Who's she?"

"That's Konoha's only doctor, Tsunade." Kiba whispered. Naruto did not feel that kind of attraction for Kiba, but his warm breath felt nice anyway, when Kiba drew nearer to add: "They say she was transferred from the city because she's an alcoholic."

"Is she?" Naruto asked, but he was becoming aware that he is just procrastination. He got slowly on his feet, listening Kiba's answer.

"She does drink a lot." As a testimony for his words, a waitress stopped at Jiraiya's and Tsunade's table to place two glasses of that local brew in front if them. "But she is never drunk on the job, at least I've never heard of it if she was."

Naruto smiled shortly and nodded Kiba his thanks. A swirl of anxiety dancing in his stomach as he made his way across the bar, vaguely aware that he is attracting a lot of looks. Jiraiya was smirking at something Tsunade was saying. He did not look familiar. Soft edges of his voice that Naruto was catching didn't sound familiar. Naruto couldn't feel anything, any connection, just the hope he will hear more about his parents.

Stopping just next to the table, Naruto said, to drew man's attention on him. "Hi. Are you Jiraiya?"

Still what that smirk on his lips, Jiraiya glanced up at Naruto and froze. His eyes widened in recognition, but in that completely dumbfounded way, like when people think they saw a miracle.

"Minato?" Jiraiya said finally.

Naruto felt dizzy. _Minato_? That had it; the familiarity, the aftertaste. Naruto took a shaking breath. This time, the feeling was not followed by a visual memory, which was not that bad. He at least didn't trip.

"N-no. I'm Naruto."

Jiraiya didn't react. He just kept staring at him for a minute or two. Naruto was starting to feel really uncomfortable standing there next to that table, waiting for someone to ask him to sit or get lost, or offer an explanation. No one seemed willing to help him, so Naruto finally snapped.

"Look, old man." Jiraiya narrowed his eyes at him and inside, Naruto cheered. That was so much better. "I traveled a long way to come here and find out about my family, and people seem to think you can help. So please stop staring at me like you saw a ghost and offer me a seat."

Jiraiya still looked like he didn't quite like Naruto calling him old, but the woman – Tsunade, was it? – chuckled.

"I like you, kid." She said. "You made Jiraiya angry in less then two minutes. Sit down and buy us a drink."

That wasn't enough, though. He was here to see Jiraiya, to talk to him, so Naruto glanced at the man to see the reaction on Tsunade's invitation. Jiraiya said nothing, but he had on eyebrow up in question, almost a challenge. Good enough, Naruto decided and sat.

"Who's Minato?" He asked straight up as Tsunade gestured for another round of drinks.

Jiraiya opened his mouth a little, almost, but not quite gaping. After a moment, he flattened the expression on his face completely. "Your father, of course." He said shortly. Only after a couple of long seconds, he offered, unwillingly: "You look a lot like him."

"So tell me more about him."

Jiraiya cocked his head a little. "He had better manners then you. And a better haircut."

"I meant," Naruto said thought greeted teeth and pained jaw. "Tell me something real. Where we lived - or how they died."

From the background, Radiohead's _Creep,_ with its weird slowness, was making Naruto additionally impatient as he waited for Jiraiya to answer. The man was frowning in thought, as if there something he couldn't understand. Naruto decided that he would not talk about the amnesia unless someone asked.

Finally, Jiraiya spoke again. "You three used to live just outside of the town. They died in a fire."

_Great_, Naruto thought, _I will have to dig the mine for every little word._

But he persisted, asking his questions. Tsunade helped, half of the time interrupting awkward pauses with demands for more alcohol and the other half scorning Jiraiya for being too vague. Naruto found out that the last name he was using for so many years was not exactly nonsense; it was his mother's maiden name. Also, his father was not from Konoha, he was transferred to work as the local police chief from the city because of some stunt he did on the job, met Naruto's mother and decided to stay forever. They were very happy, they loved Naruto very much – or so Naruto decided to sum out of Jiraiya's grunts and gazed smiling looks he was giving to the bar behind Naruto when he asked.

And then he found out what Sakura stopped Kiba babbling out that afternoon.

"Oh, come on, old man!" He was almost whining, but Tsunade was ordering drinks mercilessly, so that was okay. "There must be something else! Tell me!"

Jiraiya scowled, just like he did every time Naruto called him an old man, and finally snapped. "Stop calling me that, boy! Pay your godfather proper respect, you punk."

Naruto wasn't all that surprised with the revelation. He considered that possibility when he found out his parents were close enough with this man for him to be able to find out more about then from him. When Kiba first pointed him out, he even thought Jiraiya could be his grandfather. But this was better. Somehow, it didn't seem like too much of a deal Jiraiya never found him if they weren't blood related.

Still, he repeated. "Godfather?"

With the entire grudgingly accepting behavior throughout the entire conversation, he expected for the man to try to back out of it somehow. But instead, Jiraiya smirked. "Godfather. And as your godfather, I expect you to treat me with some respect, and come back to talk some other time."

Tsunade laughed softly. "He means, when he is not as drunk, and after he recovers from the shock."

Naruto knew he was being dismissed, but he couldn't help but smile happily. Jiraiya told him he can come back, ask more questions. Standing up from the table, he decided that he will stop being selfish and ask about Jiraiya's life as well. A lot of time passed and Naruto was of age, but Jiraiya didn't seem to mind his title of godfather. It could mean he was considering Naruto a – a long lost family, still.

"Fine then, old man." Naruto said, but he thought that frown Jiraiya gave him then was not nearly as honest as other ones had been. "I'll find you tomorrow, or something."

Long white hair swayed as Jiraiya nodded his acceptance, so Naruto turned to find Kiba or Sakura. At the tables that were still joined together, there was no one sitting. Naruto felt a bit hurt they had left without him. Couldn't have they at least told him they would be leaving?

It didn't matter, he decided, shaking off the feeling. He was with his godfather for the first time in a decade. They probably thought he wouldn't have wanted to be disturbed. Besides, he didn't really care. He barely knew those people.

Naruto found the waitress to settle his bill, but she told him it was all taken care of. Naruto gave her some money regardless and really bright smile as bonus.

The sign over the bar was turned off when Naruto got outside. The river was like black ink without any sky to reflect in it, and the wind was louder in the trees on the other side of it.

"Hey." A voice startled him. Naruto whirled around, tense, but in the pale light coming from the corners of a window, he recognized Sakura. "I didn't want to interrupt you, but shit that took forever. It was too hot inside."

"You've been waiting for me?" Naruto asked. There was no one else around.

She gave him an eerily shadowed smile. "Sure. Kiba had to go; his mom locks the door at midnight."

For someone who didn't care, Naruto laughed bitterly at himself, he was certainly feeling much better knowing they didn't exactly left him there.

"You didn't have to do that." He said as she passed to walk in front of him down the narrow path. "You didn't come alone, either."

She laughed. "Sasuke can find his way back."

"Gee, thanks." Naruto answer dryly. "It's not a very complicated way, I don't need a guide."

Sakura half turned, and Naruto could see her grinning on the street light that was reaching them already. "How was I supposed to know that for sure? You certainly managed to get lost on your way to school every morning, despite of living in Konoha back then."

Naruto laughed with her, but once when they were up in on the street, he couldn't help himself any longer. He had to ask.

"So," He started. "You always talk about people behind their backs?"

Sakura blinked. "What?"

"I heard you saying a lot of people called you to ask about me."

This time, she blinked after opening her mouth to gape. "How did you…? I was sure you were sleeping this afternoon, I didn't hear you go out of the room."

"No, I was." Naruto told her. In the distance, all the way on the other side of the town, it seemed, a car parked at the side of the street and the glaring lights died. "I heard you telling Sasuke about it earlier."

She relaxed a little. What was it that she was saying on the phone that she didn't want Naruto to know? Naruto hoped she wasn't telling everyone about how he couldn't remember everything. Sure that would help if he had to talk to those people soon, but it was an unpleasant to think that they all knew.

A moment later, Sakura realized the implications of what he was saying. "You were _eavesdropping_?"

"No! It's just hard to distract yourself once you hear your own name mentioned in a conversation." That, and Sasuke's reaction was too strong. Naruto wanted to know about his father very much now.

Sakura gave him a skeptical one-over. "You overheard us from all the way across the table? With all that noise?"

"I have a good hearing." Naruto smirked. "And so I heard that I had a habit of breaking other people's toys when I was five. No wonder Sasuke hates me."

He meant it as a joke, Sakura took it as a joke and laughed, but the last sentence didn't settle well in Naruto's stomach. Annoyed, he focused on Sakura's words.

"Yeah, Mr. Uchiha was telling me about that." She was still very amused at the entire thing. "I was surprised, he is usually very reserved. He had called before, to check on Sasuke and he stopped by, but he was never so in a mood for a real conversation, like today."

Naruto thought that he seemed like a nice man. Whatever their problems were, he was worried about his son. Despite that, Naruto still didn't like how Sasuke had reacted on the news that his father was asking after Naruto.

"But forget about that." Sakura continued when Naruto didn't answer right away. "Tell me about Jiraiya."

Naruto though back on the bewildered face of his godfather, the invitation to go back to see him again, and he smiled despite of the words that were forming. "I don't know. From all those people calling you, no one called him, it seems. He was… surprised."

That was an understatement, but Sakura nodded like she understood. "He can be a little – gruff. But he is really nice underneath it, so give him a chance, okay?"

Naruto was planning to do that anyway, so he asked something else that bothered him. "So why didn't you tell me he is my godfather? Or let Kiba do it?"

They were already turning the corner of the street where the inn was. Sakura was quiet for a moment.

"Because I wouldn't have been able not to tell you about how long, how desperately he was searching the woods for you. For months, he was living out there in the woods, looking for you, even after Uchihas brought authorities from the city to drag him out." Naruto stopped completely. In his mind, there was a picture of the old man sitting across from him at the table, in turns avoiding Naruto's eyes and trying to drown him in the staring, but he wanted to see Sakura's expression, too. "I wanted you to meet him first, because if you expected too much…" She took a deep breath and repeated: "He's not really the most sentimental, or open person. I didn't want you to expect too much. And because it was only a matter of hours, I decided that it's not a big deal to let you not know for a while."

Naruto started walking again. Is this how it feels when a friend is trying to look after you? It felt completely different when Gaara broke arm to that asshole who was yelling some nonsense at Naruto last Christmas. But he wasn't entirely happy Sakura kept something from him, so Naruto swallowed the gratefulness and said instead: "I'm not that fragile."

His voice was almost petulant and Sakura smiled.

"But you probably still have a temper." She said. They were inside; the hall with the engraved wooden wall was illuminated with only some dim light coming through the open door of the kitchen far in the back. "It wouldn't so anyone good if you snapped because things are not the way you imagined them. Are you going to bed? Do you want something to eat first?"

Naruto considered. He wasn't drunk – or at least he was not feeling drunk. But he was very prone to hangovers on the mornings after he drank alcohol. Full stomach was probably not going to help… And the thought of the food was making him want to start throwing up right away, anyway.

"Bed." He said. "But you'll tell me more about all this in the morning, right?"

"You know what?" Sakura beamed. "We don't have a room service here, but I'll bring you breakfast to your room in the morning, before I unlock. We will be able to talk without interruptions that way. How's that?"

Naruto thought that her effort would be wasted, he won't be able to eat, but he was too busy grinning like a big cat with greasy whiskers to say it. No one ever made him breakfast and brought it to his bed, after all. It was an experience he was unwilling to miss.

"Yeah, I'd like that."

Sakura waved him off up the stairs. She was probably sleeping somewhere downstairs. Much like he did when he was walking out, Naruto halted a little in front of Sasuke's door. The light inside was not on. So late at night, just before the witching hour, the sounds were clear. But if Sasuke was inside, he was asleep and still, because Naruto didn't hear anything.

Even after the afternoon nap, Naruto had no problems falling asleep as soon as his got ready and slipped under the sheets. After all, for the first time in many years, Naruto was falling asleep with that dizzily pleasant feeling of accomplishment.

***

Neither the brightness coming through the window, nor the banging on his door helped Naruto with his headache. He wasn't feeling all that sick, but his tongue was hurting inside his mouth, like the acid had dried on it. There was no taste, only a burning sensation that made it very hard for Naruto to open his mouth and yell that yes, he is up and yes, he is coming to open the door.

Half way into his pants, Naruto remembered, and smiled. That was his breakfast banging!

When he opened his door, almost well enough to grin in greeting by then, Sakura was indeed standing there. But her hands were empty.

"Morning." She said and swallowed. Dread gutted Naruto on spot. Something happened? Has she finally caught up with just how much Naruto should not be in her life and is kicking him out? He shouldn't be surprised. People always start to hate him, sooner or later. He shouldn't have expected better. But it hurt.

"Good morning." Naruto forced himself to say. "What's up?"

Sakura glanced down the hall and with her face out of blinding daylight, Naruto could see that she was crying. Okay, then it was probably not him. He was asleep. Something else happened. Something made Sakura cry.

"Kakashi is here." She said, and yes, the odd tilt of her tone must have been because of the crying, too. "He wants to talk to you."

Naruto blinked. Kakashi the cop? What, he wanted to talk _officially_ with Naruto? Why?

"Why?" He repeated the last part of his thoughts.

Sakura wrapped her arms around herself and whispered: "I think… No, Kakashi _told_ me, I know it." She took a deep breath. "Jiraiya's dead."

For a long, stupid moment, Naruto wondered just who is that Jiraiya and why should he care if the guy is dead. Even as he walked out, closed the door and followed Sakura out, he wasn't entirely sure what to think or do. Jiraiya, the club owner? Jiraiya, the man with a lot of white hair? Jiraiya, Naruto's godfather?

_Pay your godfather proper respect, you punk_, Naruto's mind whispered somewhere half way down the stairs, mockingly not even close to the voice Naruto remembered from the last night. In response, Naruto bent over to threw up all over the shiny, well carved wood.

tbc

* * *

A/N: Yeah, I know. I'm not happy about it, either.

I have to give one last waning to all of you who didn't like Jiraiya dying, or are sensitive in general: this is just a beginning. And you probably won't like it when you find out what happened.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

There were two cells in the local police station and both were empty. Naruto was doing his best to keep it that way, but Kakashi was hard to read and, considering how small Konoha was and how everyone knew each other very well, probably in mourning. The entire morning, Naruto was doing exactly what Kakashi wanted him to do, answering questions as clearly as he could. After all, he had nothing to hide.

Kakashi was not letting him go, though. He had decided to let Naruto sit in the wide office that was directly leading out on the street on one side, and to an open hallway with a bathroom, two doors without any labels and on the opposite side, two cells. They were waiting until Kakashi got information he asked about from the city, on Naruto, through the phone, because network was down at the moment in the entire Konoha.

Maybe because every window in the station had bars on the windows, Naruto was sitting as close as he could to the door. Kakashi was giving him a dark look when he dragged his chair backwards, but Naruto ignored him. He wasn't planning on running away. When information arrived, they will see that Naruto didn't do anything wrong, but there was little chance that he will stop being a suspect so easily. It was only normal, considering he was new in town.

The very thought he was a suspect for the murder – because that is what it was, a murder – of his own godfather, was making Naruto's stomach queasy. The memory of the not exactly comfortable conversation from the last night was not as clear and pleasant as Naruto's hopes for the future with some kind of family by his side were, but it still hurt. Jiraiya was dead. Worse yet, he was murdered; it didn't just slipped through his hands like everything else, someone _took_ Naruto's opportunity to have family of his own.

Naruto was calm… or maybe dead emotionally. At first, he was in such disbelief that when Kakashi instructed him to follow him to the station, he did it without a word. Sakura had kissed his cheek, face still smeared with tears. That was a warm, welcome gesture. Naruto didn't remember to tell her that he was innocent; he wasn't even sure if there was something to be innocent about. But maybe he should have said something. Sakura didn't know him well, who knew what she would start thinking after she got out of shock.

The disbelief had worn off, melted under Kakashi's swift steps and sharp questions. Naruto's mouth was still burning from throwing up earlier, but his eyes weren't. He couldn't cry. He couldn't even remember how crying felt. But his godfather was dead. How was that as the trade for a few pale memories that never even belonged to Naruto?

Probably because Kakashi had to be around the crime scene and investigate, he was coming and going all the time so Naruto was alone in the office with the only other employee of Konoha's police force, a chubby guy around Naruto's age. Kakashi called him Chouji. He was sitting at the table and while waiting for the call from the city on Naruto, taking instead many other calls from upset people. Despite of his own sour state of mind, sadness and disorientation, Naruto couldn't help but feel sorry for the guy.

"No, Mrs. Yamanaka," He was saying into the speaker. "I can't tell you anything. We are investigating…"

Chouji was obviously interrupted. If Naruto tried, pushed his chair closer and just paid attention, he would have heard the other side of the line. He didn't bother. They were just demanding explanations police still didn't have.

"No, Kakashi is not in, he has work to do…" Considering he had already said those words about twenty times before, Naruto was impressed with the patience Chouji was showing. He would have snapped a long time ago and hung up on everyone who called without having some business calling. "Yes, of course he is doing everything he can – right now…"

Kakashi came in again some minutes later. He brought with him food – sandwiches made of halves of bread loafs – but not all the gratitude Naruto was feeling when he took one couldn't be compared with the glint Chouji had in his eyes on the very sight of Kakashi with his hands full.

"Did you find what happened to my godfather?" Naruto asked right away, demanded, just like every other time Kakashi came back inside.

"Anything back from the city yet?" Kakashi asked Chouji, completely ignoring Naruto's question, just like he did every other time Naruto had opened his mouth without being asked a direct question.

"Nah.." Chouji managed around a generous bite. Fortunately, he had waited until he finished swallowing before he said: "Doctor Tsunade called to tell you she doesn't care who came from what place, she wants to examine the body."

Naruto's hands with sandwich in it fell. He should have paid closer attention to Chouji's calls.

Doctor Tsunade wanted to examine the body. The woman who was sitting with them previous night, with Jiraiya and Naruto, demanding alcohol and cutting the tensest silences, she was also doing something. Only Naruto had to sit and wait, like he was some kind of delinquent, while Jiraiya's murderer was somewhere out there, free to kill someone else.

"Do you even have a real reason to keep me here?" He demanded. It has been hours. He was behaving for long enough.

"As I told you before," Kakashi asked, typing something on the keyboard of the computer with two fingers of one hand. "You are the only new guy in town and you have no alibi. I am just checking you up."

Only the internet in Konoha was out, so it had to be done by phone. Kakashi called several times, and his colleagues had promised they would call back. But they didn't, not yet. And when they do, Kakashi will lose that little reason he had to suspect Naruto; ha never did anything wrong and police will not have anything to report back. It was just the matter of waiting for it.

"I didn't do anything." Naruto said, repeating the same thing for the hundredth time. "I only met the guy last night, and then I went to the inn with Sakura and came out of my room this morning, when she invited me. Just let me go. I won't go far – though the report you'll get won't give you a reason to look for me."

Kakashi gave him a flat look over the monitor as a different color from the screen flashed across his face. "If you would rather wait in one of the cells, Naruto, that is something I can arrange."

Naruto huffed. There was a voice inside of his head, demanding, giving him all kinds of cocky lines to retort, but he was feeling exhausted, drained. A part of him felt guilty he was sitting instead of searching for whoever killed his godfather, and the other just wanted to go back to the inn, crawl inside the covers and stare blankly at deaf walls. Naruto couldn't do either.

The door opened, and Naruto scowled automatically at the person stepping over the threshold. From the entire Konoha, Sasuke was the last person he was expecting to see there, but Kakashi took one look at the newcomer and asked, a little impatiently: "Where were you? I've been looking for you the entire morning."

Sasuke, for his credit, just cocked his head a little as the door snapped shut behind him. "Sakura said so. Why?"

Kakashi had already picked up a note book he was caring around, and he writing something in it. Naruto turned so he could see both of them, but his eyes were mostly measuring Sasuke. Dark circles around his eyes spelled tiredness clearly – but on the bright sunlight reaching through the bars of the window, to Naruto, Sasuke didn't look bad, just more human then the day before, somehow more real.

"When was the last time you saw your brother?" Kakashi asked, hard stare firmly on Sasuke. There was no way that he could miss Sasuke's badly concealed flinch, just like Naruto didn't. He was either really surprised with the question or the subject was sensitive.

"I don't remember exactly." Sasuke answered, glaring across the room at the chief of Konoha police. "I was ten."

Kakashi ignored the rude tone. "He didn't try to contact you recently? You didn't hear from him – a phone call, maybe? Letter? _Anything_?"

"No. Why?"

Kakashi persisted. "Did you hear anything _about_ him? Maybe he contacted someone else in the house."

"Not that I know off." Sasuke's voice was becoming more and more emotionless with every answer, like he was accommodating to the conversation. "Why? Do you think he's back? You think he killed Jiraiya?"

His eyes, though, flickered to Naruto at the last words. They were very dark and, Naruto could swear after several seconds of holding Sasuke's gaze, somehow sad. Was that him expressing sympathy in the case his brother really was the one who killed Jiraiya? Or he maybe knew it for certain. Naruto could feel anger turning his measuring look into a glare, but Sasuke wasn't averting his eyes.

"Just answer the questions." Kakashi said, obviously still talking to Sasuke. His voice demanded attention. Naruto could feel a little growl forming in his throat – couldn't Kakashi see that Sasuke had to keep looking at him? "I've been though all this with your family already – where were you the entire morning?"

"Walking." Sasuke said and after a second blinked and looked away. "I couldn't sleep."

"You were walking?" Kakashi repeated. "The entire morning?"

It was starting to sound if he was really suspecting Sasuke, not just asking about his brother. Naruto was in the station from before seven in the morning. If Sasuke went for a walk before then – because Kakashi would have wake him up to ask these questions right away if he was in – that meant he was walking around for more then four hours.

"Yes."

Kakashi was quiet for several moments, just looking at Sasuke. His notebook was still open in his hands, pen ready to move and write in it. "Don't go far. I want to be able to find you if I need you."

"I had no plans of going anywhere but back at the inn." Sasuke answered. It was such classical example of answering but not promising anything, Naruto just had to smile a little.

Kakashi was done with Sasuke, though. He was talking to Chouji. "Did you find me those files I asked for?"

Chouji was getting up to go to wherever the files Kakashi needed were, mumbling something about phone calls and annoying people, when Sasuke spoke again. "Kakashi? Why is Naruto here?"

Naruto straightened his back and looked at Kakashi to hear the answer, though he was much more interested in why was Sasuke asking in the first place.

"Where is he supposed to be, in your opinion? We know nothing about him."

Sasuke turned to the door, as if Kakashi's tone reminding him that he had no business asking about Naruto. "I don't care where he is. But if you're considering him a suspect, you're wasting your time. He was at the inn all night."

"How can you be sure?" Kakashi asked, already picking up his notebook.

"I told you. I couldn't sleep. Walls at the inn are thin, you can hear every door at the floor opening and closing. Naruto didn't go out of his room at all."

Naruto wanted to jump up - half out of surprise, half out of gratitude. Kakashi just narrowed his eyes as Sasuke, who was still standing with one hand on the doorknob, half turned to face the chief. "At all? And how do you know when the murder happened?"

How, indeed? Like all the details, some probably so exaggerated that they were as correct as the latest Patterson's novel, weren't all over the Konoha already. Sasuke obviously talked to Sakura and if Sakura had spent the entire previous day on the phone over Naruto's return to Konoha, she was certainly doing the same this morning over a murder in such a small town.

"I don't," Sasuke smirked faintly, as if to say that he was not so stupid to set such a clumsy trap for himself. "But you were at the bar this morning when I started my walk."

With this, Naruto had a decent alibi. Jiraiya was with Tsunade when he left, then he was with Sakura until he got up his room and then Sasuke was awake all night, even when Naruto was asleep, able to hear if the door opened at some point. They, of course, didn't, because Naruto wasn't even leaving his room to use the bathroom; just as he told Kakashi over and over again.

The door opened under his hand, but Sasuke, surprised, stepped back. Someone was walking in.

Forest green trainers on the guy were covered with a bright orange vest, even though hunting was forbidden around Konoha. Either there were people who disrespected the rules or was just an extra precaution. Remembering a little of how this guy – he had forgotten the name, but he didn't think he would be able to forget the thick eyebrows and enthusiastic behavior any time soon – from the bar last night, Naruto thought that the second option was more likely.

"Chief, sir." Thick-brow said, almost stomping over Sasuke on his way inside. He was panting, flushed and sweaty. "Uncle Gai has sent me to tell you have to go where he is right away, there was an accident."

Kakashi, who was listening half heartedly at the beginning, stuffed his notebook in the front pocket. "Where? Is someone hurt? Did you get Tsunade?"

But Thick Brow was already shaking his head. "No, I didn't see anything, uncle didn't let me go near – but he just told me to get you quickly. I don't think doctor can help anything, I think people inside are dead."

"Chouji!" Kakashi called for his subordinate.

Naruto didn't even notice when he got so close to the newcomer, it must have been while he was talking, but when Sasuke stepped closer, all three of them were inside of just a couple of steps.

"Who are those people, Lee?" Sasuke asked. That was right; it was Lee – Lee who shook his head again.

"I don't know them; I never saw the car before."

Sasuke glanced back at Kakashi, just like he would if he was doing something forbidden. It was quick and not without skill, but Naruto noticed and wondered about it. Sasuke was just asking about the accident. There was nothing forbidden in that, Kakashi couldn't stop anyone from wanting to know more.

"Where did it happen?"

"Just outside of Konoha." Lee didn't seem to have picked up on Sasuke's secretive manner. He was talking loudly enough for everyone in the station to hear. "We were jogging down the road and we saw the car, they hit a tree. Uncle went there to see if there was someone hurt, but he told me to go get Kakashi, not the doctor."

Yeah, that probably meant they were dead. Just a stupid accident, but it happened in a really bad moment, Kakashi will have so much work to do. Naruto hoped these strangers who were stupid enough not to be careful on unfamiliar road won't eat too much of his time; he was supposed to be looking for Jiraiya's killer.

Sasuke's strange voice, rough like he hadn't even seen water for a week, made him snap his attention back at the pale face in front of him. "And you didn't see anything else? Nothing at all?"

Lee couldn't answer, because Kakashi appeared next to them and ordered. "Lee, we're taking my car. You two, go back to the inn. Chouji will call Tsunade."

Naruto walked out after Lee. He was suddenly very interested in the accident. It was stupid to stand up and pay attention to something just because of Sasuke's odd reactions, but Naruto couldn't help it – just like he couldn't help it last night. There was no way he would be going back to the inn before he finds out who the people Sasuke was so upset about but didn't want anyone to know were.

Kakashi's car was parked practically on the street. They made a big turn over the road and after a minute, disappeared in the distant end of the main Konoha's street. Sasuke was watching after them, too.

"Thanks." Naruto remembered to say.

"What?"

Naruto glanced sideways at Sasuke, who was still watching the spot the long street was ending at. The sun was bright on the parts of his face not shadowed by the dark strands of hair. Sasuke looked sick, tired and afraid. Naruto softly explained: "For what you said inside…"

"I wasn't doing a favor for you." Sasuke snapped back at him, not bothering to remove his eyes from the end of the road.

Naruto didn't try to say anything else, even though he wanted. _Of course_ it wasn't a favor to him. Just a citizen's duty. _Of course_ it wasn't anything personal. Were they really friends once? Because right then, without any real memory of the guy as younger and faced with some horrible things, the possibility felt like a nice illusion, nothing more then a pleasant daydream. Naruto had questions he wanted badly to get answers at, but judging by his tone, Sasuke won't be answering anything today.

Naruto sighed and started to walk.

"The inn is not that way." Sasuke said behind him, after three long steps of hesitation.

"I'm going to see that accident." Naruto answered over his shoulder. "Aren't you?"

There was no answer, but on the empty street, it was easy to hear when Sasuke moved to follow. It wasn't a surprise; there was no doubt that it was exactly what he wanted to do all along. Naruto couldn't wrap his mind around why was he restraining himself in the first place.

Shadows of the trees on either side of the clean asphalt road were not long enough to give useful protection from the strong sun, not that Naruto was trying. He enjoyed the warmth at the top of his head, on the sleeves of the shirt Sakura had grabbed for him that morning. Sun was burning differently among the concrete and steel of the city; there, it always felt like it was trying to melt you when it was this warm. But on the not very wide road that was cutting through a thick and old forest, it just felt nice.

Sasuke was walking at the very edge of the empty road, some steps behind Naruto. Was he either careful or catching those rare shadows from the branches stretching so far over their heads, it was anyone's guess. Naruto was just glad to hear his steps following.

Kakashi's car on the road was visible sooner then he expected. The accident happened just outside of the town, on a very tricky bend. As they approached, Naruto saw that no one was yet taken out of the car. A bigger version of Lee was talking to the original quietly near on the half way between the road and a newer version of BMW, smashed on the front side, but Kakashi was the first one to see them approaching.

He narrowed his eyes. Naruto almost regretted he didn't listen. "I told you two to stay at the inn."

"I can't just sit around anymore." He answered without slowing down. "At least let me be useful."

Kakashi didn't answer; he turned back to whatever it was that he was going through on the back seat. Peat of the ground was soft, but crackling loudly under the weight of humans walking. Sasuke's steps were louder then his, Naruto noticed in detached amazement as he came close enough to see through the window of the crashed car. Almost as if he was so familiar with the ways of the woods, the ground itself was accumulating to his steps as a welcome.

"Did you know him?"

With horror, Naruto realized he was grinning right at the face of a dead man sitting at the wheel. Kakashi didn't appear to notice, maybe because the sun was glaring into his face through the treetops, and Sasuke was still behind Naruto, fortunately. It was such a tactless thing to do – Naruto was thinking about something else, he didn't thing someone dying was funny, not at all.

Words sunk in, so Naruto took a careful look at the dead person. He was fairly young, around thirty, hair bleached and long, face handsome… And there was a hole, a _bullet_ hole on the driver's temple. He wasn't dead from the accident, this person still in his seat, in his car, was killed. Shit, what was going on in this place?

"No, never saw him before." Naruto told Kakashi honestly.

"Sasuke?" Kakashi prompted; the question was apparently meant for the both of them. It was probably why Kakashi had let them so close; he was trying to make a connection of some sort.

Sasuke stopped close, taking a look into the car almost over Naruto's shoulder. It lasted just a moment, and his voice was flat when he answered. "No."

If the person in the car wasn't what he was interested in, then why did he want to see the accident? Maybe he saw that it wasn't the person he was afraid it was as soon as he saw the car, but if he was expecting someone, wasn't it easier to ask Lee about the type of the car? Naruto suppressed a sigh. He had never met someone who confused him as much as Sasuke. There was just no sense in anything he was saying and doing.

On Naruto's right, deep enough among the trees for him to be sure it wasn't anyone he was aware that was around, something moved. Something _big_. But big animals usually keep away from people. Was it a human?

Naruto glanced back, in case he had missed when someone moved. Lee and his uncle, Gai, were still where they were before, Kakashi was examining a bag and Sasuke was close enough to notice Naruto's reaction instantly.

"What?" He demanded.

Naruto gave him a one shoulder shrug. "Kakashi? Is there anyone else here?"

Much like Naruto did a second ago, Kakashi glanced around. "No, it's just us."

Naruto closed his eyes and concentrated on the sounds coming from the woods on his right. There was nothing for a moment, not even birds or wind. When the cracking sound came again, Naruto kept listening. It repeated, almost, but not quite, rhythmically. It was familiar, so familiar in what should be different and new to Naruto, it reminded him of…

It sounded as if someone was trying to sneak out carefully.

Naruto moved into the direction of the sound. It could be – it probably _was_ the person who killed the man in the car. Possibly, it was the same person who killed Jiraiya. He didn't manage more then two steps when someone yanked him back, though.

"Where are you going?" Sasuke demanded.

"There's someone…" Naruto started, half turning back. Words died on him when he saw Sasuke's face, more pale then ever, eyes shiny with suppressed panic. He was worried about _the killer_, not the victim? Naruto pulled his arm out of the grip, with a lot of effort and probably just because Kakashi was just a few steps away. He said, loudly enough for Kakashi to hear, but looking at Sasuke. "There is someone out there. I'm going to see who it is."

"There is no one there." Sasuke said, gritted out. "You're imagining things."

Another sound of careful movement behind him made it easier to pull out of Sasuke's captivating gaze. "No. I'm not."

He was turning around again and starting to run when he heard Kakashi called that even if someone was there, he shouldn't go in the woods, not on his own. Naruto ignored him.

Trees were wide, old. They were leaving enough space between them to make running easy, even with twigs and dry, broken brunches laying around. Sasuke was running after him but Naruto was handling the uneven track better.

He couldn't hear the person in the woods any longer, not through the entire ruckus Sasuke was making – on purpose? – but when he arrived at the place noise was coming from, there was no one there. Naruto must have slowed down, because Sasuke grabbed him again.

"The woods are forbidden to go into." He said, when Naruto had to stop. Sasuke's grip was much firmer now, his fingers hurt Naruto's forearm. "You have to go back."

Naruto tried to get his breath under control and listen. They were out of sight of those next to the car – and Kakashi might come after them, or send Lee's uncle. Naruto will lose every chance to hear anything with that many people running around.

Sasuke hauled him to the direction of the road. "Come on. We have to go back."

Naruto had to pull much harder to free his arm, but he managed it, sending Sasuke one quick glare. His ears caught something further among the trees, and he ran again. No surprise there, Sasuke kept up. Who exactly was that, out there? Who was it that Sasuke wanted to protect so badly?

As he ran into a little clearing, Naruto saw someone disappearing into the trees on the other side. No, he _had_ seen something, but it was just backside of someone who had a sleeve caught on a branch yanking his arm free and then disappearing. Grass was high but otherwise the ground was easier to step on, safer. When Naruto was over the half, he knew Sasuke will manage to catch up once again. He was, after all, obviously faster.

Naruto expected him to catch his arm again, but this time, Sasuke used his weight and speed and pushed Naruto so hard they both ended up on the ground. His knee was hurt. Angry, confused and bleeding, Naruto snapped, "What the fuck is your problem!? Who is that!?"

Sasuke didn't answer. Instead he crossed the space that was left behind them and grabbed Naruto's shoe. It was one of those without laces, so it slipped off easily before Naruto understood what was happening. In a rich arch, the sneaker flew all the way across the clearing. Naruto would never manage to retrieve it and catch the guy running away, so he turned to Sasuke.

"You fucking _bastard_." He hissed, but then he couldn't help it, not when those words were coming out: "That fucker you're protecting maybe killed my godfather! I lost everything! There's no one left!"

Sasuke stood up, not looking back at Naruto, hiding his face. He was too careful, probably also hurt from the fall. Naruto didn't care right now; he deserved much worse.

"I lost everything, again." He repeated, more quiet and more angry. "My godfather is _dead_!"

Sasuke shot his head up this time. "So what? You don't even know how it's like to have family, what's the difference?"

Naruto's chest hurt, empty and full of burning flames at the same time. His legs were not feeling as his when he stepped forward, his fists were clenched. Sasuke wasn't stepping back, his dark eyes matching Naruto's fury – and he had no right on it!

"I could have! I could've had a family now! I could have known – he'd have me, I know he would!" There was a part of Naruto's brain shocked at the words, at all his hope coming out like that, and for what? For this guy, this asshole who will pick up the shreds and finish him off? It didn't stop him. "But now he's _dead_!"

Sasuke's eyes grew darker, he placed on hand between them and, Naruto was almost shocked to register, yelled back: "So you get to take everything from me, too?! I won't let you, I don't care whose fault was it, I don't care how fucked up you are, I don't give a fuck about all that shit! You can't take it away from me, you fucking freak!"

Naruto froze. Yeah, he knew Sasuke hated him. That was not a secret and he also knew that he wanted badly things to be different. He was willing to try, to do anything. Wasn't he being nice, even when Sasuke was rude and unpleasant and afraid? Wasn't he being considerate, to the best of his abilities?

It wasn't enough. It was never enough. People always turned away from him. Sasuke was just smart and clear from the beginning. Naruto understood and respected that. The fire in his chest died and left just the emptiness behind.

Sasuke's fingers closed viciously around the cloth that was until then underneath them for a moment before he let his arm fall. Naruto could find the words, but not the will to force them out. He wasn't even looking at Sasuke; he was busy booking through him into the past, into the faces of all those people who called him freak before. It never hurt quite this much, how very odd was that?

Neither moved for a long minute. Finally, Naruto heard a set of steps approaching from the side of the road. It efficiently snapped him out of the haze, and he moved. Sasuke was still as a rock, and Naruto wondered if he should tell him something. When he was out of the way, Sasuke's eyes fell down to the ground. Naruto opened his mouth, but then Sasuke's gaze sharpened and he frowned.

Naruto turned to see what caused the reaction. In the bright sun, it took him only a second to see it. On the ground that was under Naruto's back until a moment ago, there was a necklace glittering.

Naruto glanced back at Sasuke just as Sasuke glanced at him; a clear check on the enemy status. They both moved at the same time, and dived for the piece of silver in the grass. His face full of green, Naruto felt his hand wrap around the thin chain. But when he tried to actually take it, it wouldn't budge. Naruto looked up to see that Sasuke also managed to grab an end.

"That's _mine_." Sasuke hissed, trying to take a better hold of the necklace.

"Fucking liar." Naruto answered, and tugged back. "It's not."

"You'll break it! Let go!"

But Naruto didn't want to let go. He wanted the freaking thing because it clearly belonged to the person he was chasing. It also meant a lot to Sasuke, and even if there wasn't that thing about people being killed around Konoha, he'd want it.

"I won't break it if you stop that." Naruto said. Sasuke was up, kneeling while Naruto was still sitting. He could tell it would be a powerful blow before Sasuke's unfortunately right free fist connected with his jaw. He didn't let go of the necklace, though. Neither did Sasuke.

Sight a little blurry and ears ringing, Naruto was still presence of mind to use that Sasuke had to follow his fall to keep the grip on the chain and slammed his free left elbow up at Sasuke's shoulder. It caused a grunt of pain, but Sasuke's fingers were closed tightly around the necklace. Naruto started removing one finder after another, blocking Sasuke with his body to try and reinforce the grip, with his shoulder pressed against Sasuke's chest.

"It's _mine_." Sasuke repeated, panting and _stubborn_.

Naruto barked back, pissed. "No it's not! It belongs to the murderer! I'm not letting you have the only proof about his identity of the man who killed my godfather!"

Sasuke stopped trying to push Naruto off, though his grip on the necklace was still strong. "He didn't kill your godfather, you moron. That wasn't _him_. Let that go."

Naruto turned, still holding Sasuke's hand in his. Dark, serious gaze met him there, looking afraid but honest. "Who was it, then? And how do you know that?"

Voices were near enough now for Sasuke to react on them. People were about to step up on the clearing. Sasuke's eyes were a mixture of pleading and panic. Naruto thought that his throat was never drier in his life, like he was eating desert sand with a spoon.

"I'll tell you." Sasuke whispered, so hoarsely as if Naruto was strangling him. "I'll tell you everything, just let go."

Watching those dark eyes, that fear, Naruto was tempted. But he wasn't stupid. If the necklace was that important, he had to keep it if he wanted to hear what Sasuke knew. "So tell me."

Sasuke glanced on the side, where Lee and his uncle came to sight with identical worry and puzzlement over their faces. Gai had a gun, probably Kakashi's gun, in his hands. They were approaching quickly. There was no time.

"Are you guys okay?" Lee's uncle yelled. "Was anyone there, did you see him?"

Naruto looked back down at Sasuke. How they must have looked to those two, him practicality sitting on Sasuke's bent legs, looking like he was holding his hand with both of his? Not good. Sasuke must have been thinking it, too, because he tried to move back and make some space between them. Naruto couldn't let the necklace to slip, though. He help Sasuke's gaze firmly, and made an offer.

"No, we didn't see anything." He answered loudly. He wouldn't say anything until he hears Sasuke out. But – and Naruto tugged gently on the necklace – he has to be the one to keep it.

Slowly, painfully slowly, Sasuke's fingers relaxed and he let go. He didn't say anything, he didn't confirm he would tell about what he knew, he was avoiding to look anywhere near Naruto as he stood up on his feet. But he let go, so Naruto followed him up a moment after.

Gai asked a lot of questions as Naruto hopped around on one leg to find his shoe. He answered them automatically, but not mentioning the necklace. Sasuke was walking behind him, silent. Naruto glanced back at him a couple of times, the memory of his desperate, panicky words returning in waves. The closer they were to the road, to Kakashi, the paler he was. He had no faith that Naruto wouldn't say something. It was insulting, hurtful to be distrusted like that. But that was the problem, wasn't it? Why _would_ Sasuke trust him? All he knew about Naruto was from some apparently not too pleasant childhood memories. And Naruto didn't so anything to change that.

Making up his mind, Naruto took his hand that was gripping the necklace out of the pocket and halted. When Sasuke was passing him, he grabbed his wrist, letting the necklace stay caught between, so Sasuke could feel it. Sasuke stopped dead, narrowing his eyes. Naruto let his hand slip further down, until the necklace was between their palms and squeezed hard over Sasuke's fingers.

"Promise me." He whispered, forcefully. Sasuke blinked and frowned. Naruto had to lick his lips. He needed water, _soon,_ or he would die from dehydration. "You'll tell me?"

Sasuke's until then lifeless fingers closed over Naruto's hand in turn, almost like they were shaking hands, but much stronger. The necklace was in danger of bending and losing shape from the pressure.

"I will. I said I would."

Naruto let go, leaving Sasuke to close his fingers around the silver chain. When Sasuke pushed his hands back into the pockets and turned to follow Gai and Lee, who were already far ahead, Naruto realized, a little disgusted with himself, that he was regretting the loss of Sasuke's warm palm more then the loss of the necklace.

Under the circumstance, that was really fucked up. Naruto couldn't shake it off or deny it, so he just tried not to think about it and followed Sasuke's back out of the woods, wondering vaguely is his head supposed to hurt quite as much because of a single punch, until they were back on the road.

* * *

A/N: Now when Naruto has some kind of hold on Sasuke, I can finally start this story… XD

Also, I don't think I made a big secret about Itachi coming out to play soon. Thought? =D


	6. Chapter 5

**Warning**: You remember all those times I kept saying **Horror! Not for young and sensitive! Be careful**! and all you got to read was Naruto going _Where's my mommy? And my daddy?_ Yeah. We're there.

* * *

Chapter Five

Once adrenalin wore off, Naruto could feel his face swelling. It was definitely not his first time to take a hit, but Sasuke was sure not holding back. The entire left side of Naruto's face was hurting, pain stretching in jolts over the top of his head. After only several minutes, when he would try to examine the damage with his fingers, the touch would send waves of intense nausea to his stomach.

When Kakashi towered over him, both standing only a few feet from the BMW with the killed guy still in it, Naruto had a feeling he would not get any sympathy from that side.

"That was stupid." Kakashi said. His voice was not loud, but it was deadly. "I told you to go back to the inn. I told you not to go out there. You disobeyed me twice."

Naruto protested: "But I heard someone…"

"_I_ told you." Kakashi said, overstepping Naruto's words, still calm but cutting. "And as long as you are in Konoha, you have to listen to what I say. That was _dangerous_. Whoever did _this_ is dangerous and armed. You could have gotten yourself killed, the both of you."

With a glance sideways and the last part, Kakashi included Sasuke into the lecture.

"I was just trying to stop him."

Kakashi ignored Sasuke's barely valid excuse and gave them both one last warning look. "If you so much as go to the bathroom without me saying that you could, I will lock the both of you up. There is a lot of shit going on right now, I can't waste my time and worry about the two of you running around and fighting like a couple of ten-year-olds."

That wasn't exactly how they fought. It was more like a couple five-year-olds digging for the same toy – only with much bigger stakes. Besides, Naruto didn't hit Sasuke nearly as hard.

"You will now return with Gai to Konoha, in my car. He will drop you off outside of the inn. Go inside, and stay there until I know what's going on around here." Kakashi's eyes flickered over Naruto's face. Looking right up at them as they moved from such small distance, Naruto noticed that there was something wrong with his left eye. It moved weirdly. "And put some ice on that."

Knots in Naruto's stomach loosened a little. Kakashi was angry, but it was because he was worried. He nodded again in acceptance, thinking how it can't be too hard to just follow what someone as competent as Kakashi ordered. He had things under control. He will find Jiraiya's murderer.

_Want to give him a hint? _

It came out of nowhere, that voice. It sounded like it was Naruto's but it wasn't, it was deeper, somehow _old_… but also loud and clear, reaching out to all parts of Naruto's mind, making him gasp from the surprise.

"W-What?" He stuttered aloud. No one even heard him. There was no answer.

Who would answer anyway? It came from the inside of his head. Naruto scanned the area around him anyway; the thick tree trunks, Kakashi talking to Sasuke in hushed tones, Tsunade kneeling on the free seat next to the dead driver and examining the body, Lee and Gai turning onto the road. It didn't belong to any of them, of course it didn't. Maybe Naruto just imagined it? Yeah, that must be it.

"Come on." Kakashi said. Sasuke was already going to his car. Naruto followed. On the road, Lee was walking into the car already when Kakashi gave the instructions, talking to Gai. "Take them back. This is not a good time to be out - especially out on the road. If that coroner doesn't show up soon, I will have to do something on my own."

"Isn't Tsunade enough?" Gai questioned, gesturing for Naruto come into the car through the back door he was holding open.

"She will have to be. It's too hot." Just as Sasuke opened the other back door of the car, Kakashi raised his voice. Not too much, not to yell, just to be sure Lee would hear it, too, though the open window. "People need to be careful, but I don't want panic in the town. Choose carefully what you are going to say."

Konoha, small as it was, was already in shock after what happened to Jiraiya. Having two murders in one day will cause quite the disturbance, with a good reason. If Sasuke was right – and he sounded certain, so convinced that the both men weren't killed by the same person, it just made things worse.

Naruto got into the car, slamming the door behind him and wincing from the vibration he caused. He had to tell Sakura everything, of course. She had to know that it wasn't safe to walk around Konoha right now. And he also had to tell her that he didn't do anything, she had to know that there was nothing to be afraid about, that he would never do anything to hurt her.

_Yeah, you should make sure she feels really safe with us. _

Naruto, who was cooling his cheek on the window, carefully not pressing the lower part of his face on the vibrating glass, snapped his eyes open. There was that voice again, mocking and amused now, but still somehow… _knowing_. If Naruto was ever to choose a voice to synchronize the talking bush in a religious movie, he would choose that one.

_Oh, I like that. Me, the God! _

Naruto was holding his breath, listening, trying to get a hold on himself. It couldn't be just a fluke, it happened three times. There was a voice inside of his head, talking, mocking his thoughts like it had a separate mind, one that was finding Naruto a ridiculous little nobody.

He wasn't feeling well. His head was hurting; his mouth was still dry, burned out. If there was a voice inside his head, then it was a consequence of dehydration and the punch Sasuke landed on his head. Naruto was neither insane nor having an alien transmitting antenna up his ass. He just needed some water and maybe a nap.

When several seconds passed without strange voices giving sarcastic comments, Naruto relaxed a little. He lowered in his place a little to lean his head on the back of the seat and looked up at Sasuke, who was sitting next to him.

"What was Kakashi talking to you about?" He asked. He wanted to start using that little he had on Sasuke right away, but the questions he really wanted to ask had to wait.

"None of your business."

Naruto smiled a little. He should have known Sasuke would be a hard nut to crack. He just wouldn't have the same flavor, that odd attraction about himself otherwise.

"I can still change my mind." He said. Sasuke had to turn to glare at him, but it was mostly annoyance what Naruto saw in the gesture. Lee gave them a curious glance from the front seat. Naruto grinned back at his earnest, serious face, even though his sight went a tiny bit blurry from the pain that followed the gesture. What he said was for Sasuke alone. There was no way Lee could understand it.

"That guy," Sasuke said, nodding his head to the road behind him. "He had my father's name and contact information on him. Kakashi just said that it would probably be better if I stay at the inn for now."

"Oh." Lee said from the front said, like he figured out something. He might have, so Naruto listened. "Because now both murders are connected to your family!"

Naruto opened his mouth, but Sasuke was meeting his gaze, warning all over his face and he shock his head faintly. Naruto shouldn't ask about that. He shouldn't ask about what connection was there between his godfather being dead and the Uchiha family - was Sasuke _insane_? Or, considering what he heard in the station earlier, what was the connection between Jiraiya's murder and Sasuke's brother.

Naruto snapped his mouth shut, pointedly. At least he was learning what questions to ask first. Sasuke was making sure he would not ask for a second longer, and then he turned his gaze to watch the road over Lee's shoulder.

Signs of the restless night were becoming more obvious on him. The unnatural paleness was getting an unhealthy yellow glow, Sasuke's shoulders were slouched and he was holding his arms over each other, like he was cold in the middle of the afternoon, in a car without air conditioning on. There was some drabness in his entire appearance, maybe because the lack of color in his clothes. Longer strands of his dark hair were falling down knotted, messed up and…

_And you want nothing more than to grab him for his hair and pull his head down into your lap. _

Naruto snapped his head up. Pain sent a wave of sickness to his stomach because of the sudden, violent move but he didn't care. It was the voice again, and it said… What the fuck _was_ that?

_Look at him._

Not knowing what else to do, Naruto looked_._

_I know you are thinking about it. So beautiful, isn't he? Don't you want to see him down on his knees, turning those penetrating eyes up at you while sucking your cock? _

Shocked, because _no_, he wasn't thinking anything like that, he had no time or the opportunity and besides, Sasuke would kill him dead, Naruto flinched and stopped breathing.

_You should tell him how ill you are. He seems like one of those sympathetic idiots, they are easy to manipulate. He'd help you up to your bed. We can have fun then._

By the time voice was finishing, Naruto was pushing his back into the corner between the window and the seat as hard as he could. The voice seemed to be more then just a voice, it was putting ideas in Naruto's head; and as he watched Sasuke frowning at him, with a little bit of worry in his eyes, he was so, so fucking tempted. It was making him want things, see things – and Sasuke _would_ look good on his knees, or on his back, willing and ready…

_You're doing just fine on your own;_ _you don't need my help with this one._

And then:

_I like mine younger. But if you add some blood in the mix… Yes. Blood is always welcome to contrast beautiful fair skin. He would look better than most, smeared with it. _

"What?" Sasuke said, leaning toward Naruto a little bit, his pale face lacking thick red drops sliding down his cheeks they had a second ago in Naruto's head. Was he _insane_? Couldn't he see that that wasn't a good idea? Couldn't he see that a voice in Naruto's head was bathing him in blood? "What's with you?"

Naruto swallowed some air, because there was nothing else left, in him mouth not even a hint of moist. It hurt his esophagus. Something was wrong with him.

"Naruto?" Lee was also frowning worriedly, looking back over his shoulder.

Naruto waited for the voice to tell him more, but it didn't. It was quiet, but it didn't go away. It was just waiting for something it considered amusing to say something.

"Is he alright?" Gai asked. He had no time to wait for an answer, though. "We're here."

The car indeed stopped. Naruto found the handle blindly behind him and stumbled out, into the shadow of a maple tree near the entrance to the inn. There were voices behind him, Gai asking something, Sasuke talking. Naruto ignored them. What was wrong with him? So much pain, that wasn't normal either, regardless to the punch, the sickness and _that fucking voice_! Did he have a concussion? Naruto couldn't remember having one before but he was pretty sure he would have heard about it if concussions _talked_.

"What is it with you? Does it hurt that much?" Naruto looked up to see Sasuke, standing in front of him on the sidewalk, worry and guilt all over his frown, like he knew he made Naruto insane. But the voice was right, so right. Sasuke was beautiful, more so then anyone Naruto had or wanted before. How had he missed that until now? Why did he need a voice talking about blood plays to notice that lovely skin, those dark, intense eyes?

Naruto blinked fireflies out of his sight and swayed. Awkwardly stretching his arm, Sasuke stepped forward to help him. He only earned it to be slapped away.

"What are you doing, are you stupid?" Naruto told him, growling like a rabid animal. "Get away from me!"

Sasuke wasn't moving, though his arm fell down. "Why are you holding your head like that?"

Only then, Naruto became aware that he was pressing his palms over his ears; an unconscious attempt to block out the voice. How utterly ridiculous, the voice was already _inside_.

"Why do you _think_ I'm holding my head?" He snapped, half out of wish Sasuke doesn't find out he's going insane, half out of helplessness. "You hit me there! It hurts!"

"I hit your jaw and it wasn't that hard."

Sasuke was right, actually. It wasn't that hard, not enough to cause all this pain and nausea and phantom voices, but they were all there, making a party in what was left of Naruto's brain. So what was this? What happened to him?

_You never before kept your conciseness after getting a concussion. It is nothing to worry about. I can help you, I can heal you. Just take some sleep now. _

Naruto let his arms down from the relief. That was right; he had a hard day so far. All he needed was some rest, a nap. Yeah, he was just a nap away from being normal again. That was a really good input. For a change.

"Naruto?" Sasuke questioned, still standing there.

"It's okay." Naruto assured him, even offering a smile. "I need to sleep now and then it will go away."

Instead of mirroring his relief, which was what would be normal in Naruto's opinion, Sasuke's face was a picture of frozen horror. He stepped back once, then twice, unnaturally fast. His eyes, not moving from Naruto's, seemed to be the only link that was stopping him from turning around and running in the opposite direction.

"What?" Was all he said. Naruto could hear the alarm in the words, he could feel fear stretching from Sasuke to him, washing over his senses, singing and talking and promising sweetness beyond everything he had ever tasted before…

_Now, that is me. Having the power over people feels good, don't you think? _

It felt good. But Sasuke was afraid, he was afraid of Naruto again and he had every right to be. Naruto opened his mouth again, offering inwardly to whoever might be listening and was interested everything they wanted for a mouthful of water. "Sasuke?" He whispered, recognizing finally his own fear compressed in the name. "I think I have something in my head with me."

That wasn't what Naruto wanted to say. He didn't want Sasuke to think he was crazy, or to be even more afraid. He didn't mean to say it aloud, because that made it corporal, real. He wasn't counting on having the opposite reaction. He wasn't counting on Sasuke suddenly moving closer and wrapping his arm around his waist to help him move.

"I'll help you." Sasuke said, as Naruto let himself be led and refused to acknowledge just how good it felt to have Sasuke so close, so irrationally familiar and cozy. "This is my fault. I'll try to help you but you have to stay conscious."

_Nonsense._ _A nap and you will be as good as new._

Sasuke stopped to open the door, so Naruto used it to lean his head on Sasuke's shoulder.

He thought about it. Should he believe a voice in his head, one that was talking about blood and sex before, or Sasuke? Neither one liked him, neither one cared. If only Gaara was there, Gaara would know what Naruto should do. Such an important decision and Gaara was not there to tell Naruto if he should stay awake or go to sleep. The world was such a cruel place.

He didn't want to think about it. He didn't want to make a decision right now. All he wanted was some water.

Naruto sighed, feeling like he is falling, falling endlessly in the darkness behind his eyelids. Sasuke shifted, releasing some air and shaky voice into Naruto's hair. "You have to stay awake, Naruto. Please?"

Awake? Yeah, it was only afternoon, long hours before the time for rest would come. But he was tired now.

"Why?" Naruto asked. Maybe the answer would help.

Sasuke was quiet for a long moment. Then he said. "Because that thing you have in your head takes over when you're unconscious."

_So what? _

So what? So Naruto was supposed to let it out and leave Sasuke alone with it to add some blood to the pictures he was providing earlier? Uh, _no_. Maybe there was something else the voice wanted to say, but Naruto interrupted, talking to Sasuke, making a promise of his own. "I'll stay awake, I'll try. Can I have some water now?"

Sasuke finally opened the door of the inn and pushed Naruto inside with him. It was probably a yes. At the very least, he was still holding his arm around Naruto, and that was almost as good as water right then. Almost.

"Sakura?" Sasuke called from the hallway.

It was too loud, his voice was too loud. It hurt. Naruto took a deep breath through his mouth so he wouldn't flinch away. Sasuke was his support, he wasn't even sure if he can walk without it. He didn't want to try.

Sakura, fired up with the urgency in the call, met them where the hallway was taking the turn for the large dining room through the open double door. "Hey, what's… Naruto? What happened to you?"

She was wearing a red dress, short and cute, and despite of the circles under her eyes, there was such a refreshing air of normality around her, Naruto couldn't do anything but make an effort and smile. "Just a concussion. Everything will be fine."

He wasn't even done when her curious and worried face became one big, confused frown. "But – but your eyes…"

"You have to go out." Sasuke interrupted her, both with words and by grabbing her arm to drag her toward the entrance door. Sakura had resisted some, but she let him throw her out in the end. "Go straight to the restaurant and stay with Ino, okay? I'll call you back – or, Naruto will."

Sakura opened her mouth, Naruto saw from where he was leaning to support himself on the wall next to the door. She couldn't get anything out before Sasuke snapped the door shut and locked them, using the key he retrieved from a hook.

_Staying_ _all alone with us? Locked in? What courage. I might enjoy this boy of yours more then I though I would at first. _

"Shut up." Naruto said. He was getting worse, he couldn't even snap at the voice. Sasuke gave him a questioning glance, but one of those not overly curious. Naruto opened his mouth again. "Water."

"Yes, I know." Sasuke answered and took his arm again. "Walk with me, it should help you stay awake."

A flare - hot, burning, bright with rage and indescribable itch to move and lick and _hurt_, awoke in Naruto's stomach and he gasped. The only reason he was still on his feet was because Sasuke was holding him up. It couldn't be easy for him, but it was certainly more difficult for Naruto to dig his nails into his palms so he wouldn't do anything – _necessary, liberating, blissfully good_ – and hurt Sasuke.

"Maybe – maybe it would be better if you – if you are not so close."

Sasuke let go of him instantly, Naruto actually ended up on the floor, hitting it hard when he landing on his knees. The voice inside was amused.

_His fear is the most attractive thing I have sensed in this place for many years. He's too amusing to kill. I want to fuck him. _

Naruto opened his mouth to tell the voice to shut up again. What he croaked out was: "Water."

He could see Sasuke's legs moving, hopefully to bring something Naruto can drink.

_You don't know what thirst is. _

That one was definitely not true, that fucking liar. Naruto, with his tongue swollen, burning mouth, cut lip and that horrible, pulsing headache that couldn't even compete with the need for water, he knew what thirst was. He _knew_.

_Would you really give anything for a glass of water? You were offering it just a few minutes ago_.

That was just something to think, a way to express his thirst. He didn't mean it. What would anyone want from him anyway? It was just thirst; Sasuke will get him some water soon.

A wet, shaky hand on his forehead surprised Naruto, he didn't realize he was keeping his eyes close before he opened them. Sasuke was leaning over him, holding a jug of water. Naruto wished he could smile; that was what he considered good thinking. He took the jug and drunk instead, in huge, painful gulps. He stopped being desperate for the liquid when he had half of it inside, but he couldn't stop anyway. It felt as if he doesn't take all he can, right then, he might never again get a mouthful of water.

_You didn't answer me. What would you do for a mouthful of water when you are thirsty? Would you drink his blood if it was the only thing –_

"Talk." Naruto interrupted the voice, surprising himself with how much difference in volume the lack of thirst brought.

"What?" Sasuke said, and then probably thought better of it, or understood. "What about?"

"I don't care. Just talk, so I can focus on something else besides…"

He couldn't finish, and it wasn't because his voice was weakening, or because of the headache. He just didn't want to say it aloud.

"Did you see the carvings around the inn?" Naruto squinted across the floor where Sasuke slid down to sit and leaned on the frame of the double door that, always wide open, was separating the hallway from the dining room. Sasuke seemed to be asking seriously, so he nodded. The pain shot through the top of his head. "Did you hear the story?"

This time, Naruto decided not to answer by moving his head. "No. There's a story?"

"It's a local legend. You can't really read it of the wall, it was carved in out of order." Sasuke said, waving lightly at the wall on Naruto's right, in the hallway. His hand was shaking, but his voice was clear…

_Use your ears, boy. He is so scared you can barely understand a word of what he's saying. He's so scared of you.._

"He's scared of you, you fucking son of the bitch!" Naruto snapped finally, aloud. The water was working wonders in his system, he was still dizzy and in pain, but it was much easier to force the words out. "Now shut up and let him tell me the story!"

There was nothing in response. Sasuke's eyes were huge, watching him like a child would a lizard-boy in the circus. Naruto had to crawl a little, but he moved to mimic the way Sasuke was sitting, against the opposite board of the door frame. If Sasuke wasn't hugging his legs, they would be close enough to touch.

"Come on, then." He prompted when Sasuke didn't say anything. "What's this local legend about?"

Sasuke swallowed to find his voice again. Naruto was feeling sorry, but he also just wanted him to talk, it must be better to listen to him then to the fox, or his own thoughts that were taking more and more horrible shapes every minute – _puke and chains and a bathtub of acid and cuts, cuts deep and cuts bloody and_ - despite the tiredness and pain. If this – this voice was taking control over him when he was unconscious…

"It's about a man who liked hunting foxes. And about his son." Sasuke said, successfully cutting Naruto's stream of thought as well as silence. "He was respected man in his time; one of the founders of Konoha."

Sasuke paused for a moment, and Naruto realized he had closed his eyes again. He didn't bother opening them.

"Do you know how foxes are hunted?"

"With guns?" Naruto asked, figuring Sasuke wanted to make sure he was awake.

_Oh, he will notice when you let go. I'll make sure of that. I want him rather badly now._

"With hounds. They are scent dogs, with a strong sense of smell. This man brought Izunuka family to the town especially to take care of and train his foxhounds."

"Akamaru's a mastiff." Naruto said.

"Yeah, this was a long time ago." Naruto found it almost easy to ignore what the voice had said when Sasuke was talking. His voice maybe wasn't clear, but it was still melodic. "Anyway, he liked the hunt, and there was this custom people had back then. When a fox was caught, they would smear some its blood on the forehead on the youngest part of the hunting party. Then they would cut off the tail to use it as trophies and sometimes the head and feet before throwing the carcass back to the dogs. Naruto?"

"Yeah?"

"Just checking if you are still with me." Naruto smiled a little, but didn't bother opening his eyes. The relief was obvious in Sasuke's voice anyway; he didn't have to see it. "Things were alright at the beginning, but then, the man started to take his little son hunting with him."

_Yes, I remember that boy. He was much like you, Naruto. Strong will and little brains. My first._

"Shut up." Naruto told the voice.

Sasuke, already used to it all, kept talking, sure this time that Naruto was not talking to him. "Boy wasn't allowed a shotgun or to even get down from his horse, but his father wanted him with him. When the next fox was hounded down, because the boy was now the youngest in the party, hunters smeared blood over his face. While they were doing that, boy's father was cutting off the tail of the fox. Something that never happened before happened then, the hounds failed to kill the animal, it woke up from the pain when it's tail was cut off, jumped and ran into back into the woods."

_He's telling it so well. I might keep him alive just to tell me tales. How much do you think he could tell me with a nail through his tongue?_

Instead of repeating himself, telling the voice to shut up again, Naruto opened his eyes and looked across the floor, where Sasuke was looking back at him, worried and with his forehead wet from the sweat. He seemed far away. Naruto wished he wasn't. It was starting to be cold.

"The next time they went out, it happened again." Sasuke spoke again, with more difficulty, but prompted with whatever he saw in Naruto's eyes. "The man was starting to be afraid it meant great misfortune for his son, because when they smeared blood over someone else's face, the fox stayed dead. But it always came back to life when he would try to do it with his son. Like the kid was cursed or something. He believed that the sacrifice for the bright future of his son that he was offering was being rejected."

_Idiotic humans_. _He was just feeding his own hunger, not offering sacrifices. Neither angels nor demons are dogs to take the carcass as the offering and be happy with it. _

"But he was stubborn." Sasuke said, the disgust for once overwhelming the fear in his voice. "He went hunting more often then ever, always taking his son with him. The tails that foxes were always leaving behind were sewed into the boy's clothes and the kid was always wearing it when they would go out. It wasn't before the dogs caught the ninth fox that it stayed dead after the tail was cut off."

When Sasuke paused, Naruto realized just how cold he was.

_I bet he's warm. _

Naruto wanted to ignore the voice, but it was right. Sasuke looked warm, he was sweating. People who sweat without investing some physical effort were surely warm, weren't they? Before he made a decision to do it, Naruto moved quickly across the floor, feeling a little off but comfortable with using just his toes and hands, instead of crawling over there, if he already wasn't well enough to stand up.

Sasuke was very pale, and very afraid. He was pushing himself hard back into the door frame, with the force that had to be painful. Naruto, grateful the moving didn't cause much pain, smiled at him and placed his head into Sasuke's lap. The thigh underneath him was vibrating, Sasuke was shaking. What was it that he was so afraid of, anyway?

_Tell him to keep taking_.

"Keep talking." Naruto said. "What happened then?"

He could hear Sasuke swallow, not to get to his voice but to get to his courage. Naruto could even feel as Sasuke's stomach clenched when he looked at him upside down. Wouldn't his rectum muscles clench just like that around Naruto's cock? That had to feel good.

"He – he…" Sasuke said, and Naruto felt his cock twitch again at the sound of fear; pure, completely bare fear in his voice. A sound of laugher congratulated him. "Nothing, nothing for days. Then the boy disappeared one night and no one saw him again."

Naruto prompted himself a little higher, so he could lean his head on Sasuke's chest and listen to his heard beat violently. "Yeah?"

It was so loud, it sounded as if it was trying to get out of his chest. Naruto smiled into Sasuke's shirt. He lived to fulfill a heart's desires. Not right away, of course.

"But some years later, children started disappearing to be found much later, tortured and raped, many of them dead - many horrible things happened. And sometimes," Sasuke swallowed again and rushed in, as if afraid of what he is saying now, not of Naruto. "Sometimes, people, remaining witnesses claimed they saw a boy near the places it happened. A boy who had nine fox-tails dragging behind him though the dirt."

_Things had changed since then, of course. I am not nearly as unfocused now. I choose my fun carefully. I have you to thank for that – you and that arrogant little human who thought I could be killed. _

Naruto froze where he was – _the fuck_? _But there was blood surging just underneath the thin layer of flawlessly white skin_ - licking a long, wet trail up Sasuke's exposed neck. The upper part of his shirt was ripped apart, Sasuke was pale and squeezing his eyes shut too violently. What was Naruto doing? Why was he doing this? When did he lose it?

"Sasuke…" Naruto whispered, but his vision was already fading. "You have to run."

There was nothing at all for a moment. Then, for the first time since Naruto moved like a four-legged animal to be closer to him, Sasuke raised his hands and wrapped them around Naruto.

"I hit you, this is my fault." He whispered back. "If you are going to kill anyone else, it should be me."

Naruto tried, tried really hard to move, push himself away, but there was no strength left in his arms.

_Too late._ _He is mine now. You should've used your time better._

The smooth, old voice and the amusement, eagerness in it made Naruto push harder, much harder. It felt as if he was ripping himself out of his skin, hard and painful, but he made it, he fell back on his ass…

...In the empty bright hallway, all alone. Naruto blinked up on the light that was coming back to him from undefined source, confused. He was feeling very good, all of the sudden. He was feeling completely healthy, not a trace of the headache. What just happened? Where was he? He stood up, realizing he was wet from the water that was covering the floor of the unfamiliar hallway, paved with dirty white tiles and rusty pipes.

At first it was a strange, lonely place, but… It didn't matter where he was. Sasuke was in danger, if he was left back at the inn alone with the voice. Naruto had to help him; he just had to find a way to get to him.

So he ran down the hall, to find an exit out of this place as soon as possible.

* * *

A/N: At it must be very clear by now, this is my take on the 'Naruto has a demon in him in a AU world scenario. No, don't go! Don't you want to know how come Sasuke is such a know-it-all?


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

It was no use. The hall was just too long. Naruto's lungs couldn't get enough air any longer. He was tired and panting heavily. There was no point, anyway. It was as if there was no end to it.

Naruto stopped and propped his hands on his knees to get some air and much needed rest. He needed a better strategy. Running just wasn't working. The hallway hadn't changed a bit from the beginning. It was tiled like a bathroom – or more like a public toilet. The tiles were white but disgustingly dirty, smeared with something suspiciously brownish. The endless rusty pipes, fixed just above Naruto's head, were occasionally letting out long, low rattling sounds.

Nothing was giving Naruto any hints on how to get out of his situation. With the blood and adrenaline inside him quieting down after the short rest, his fear returned. Sasuke was in danger. Sasuke was back there, back at the inn and…

_Too late. He is mine now._

The memory of the words was so violent Naruto thought for a moment that he was hearing them again. But there was nothing. There were no voices, not from inside of his head or out. He was all alone.

He was all alone because the voice was busy back at the inn with Sasuke. What did that incomprehensible asshole think he was doing anyway? One moment he's cold and as bastardly as they come, and then he wouldn't leave when he knew he was in danger. That was another thing, how did he know? Why didn't he think Naruto was just insane?

But then, he might have. Maybe he was just going along with Naruto's insanity. But regardless, he was scared. Sasuke should have run away. Now Naruto wouldn't have to die trying to help him, die from the helplessness and the pain in his lungs. Damn that asshole! Couldn't he make some sense? Any at all?

There was nothing else to do but hurry forward. The shitty hallway had to end somewhere, so Naruto straightened up and prepared to run again. Something caught his eyes before he could get very far. There was now a door just a few feet away where he was sure there had been empty wall not a moment before.

Just a simple door, there was nothing remarkable about it. Dark wood, a normal brass doorknob… Still, it hadn't been there just a moment ago.

Naruto walked towards it. He had no idea how the door appeared out of thin air, but he wasn't going to look for a hair in the egg, so to speak. There was no use in trying to point out a flaw he couldn't find, not in a realm where doors were suddenly there and then not. Especially if it was, buy chance, a way out of this strange place.

Behind the door there was nothing but a hard, strong light, as if the sun was hidden behind an opaque glass wall. Naruto shadowed his eyes, blinked and tried again. The light shrunk, shifted and when it wasn't glaring directly into his face, Naruto was able to see.

It was a classroom, a classroom full of kids. They were talking loudly, but mostly sitting in their chairs, probably waiting for a teacher.

"Just listen to me!" A child's strangely familiar voice snapped from somewhere at the back of the room. "You will never understand if you won't even listen."

"But, Saaaasuke . . ." Naruto flinched when he recognized his own voice, whining pitifully. "It's too hard. It has three numbers in it. I can't do that."

"Well if you don't learn it, you'll get a bad grade again," Sasuke answered.

Naruto stepped further into the room to look at them because even though there were a lot of kids in the classroom, their voices were nothing but a buzz. Little Naruto and little Sasuke were sitting in the back, sharing a desk. Little Naruto had an adorable pout on his face – and it seemed to be working on little Sasuke because his hard, adult–like face was softening.

"If you don't learn it your mom will keep you in the house for the weekend, you know she will. And I can't move those boards on my own."

Little Naruto bit into his lip and shifted. Sasuke obviously had a great argument there – though Naruto had no idea what boards had to do with anything.

"It's too hard," little Naruto said, but he was leaning forward. "You know I won't get it. I'm not smart like you."

Little Sasuke had already opened the thin book in front of him, not willing to waste a moment of his reluctant victory.

"You're not stupid either, Naruto." Naruto smiled. Little or not, Sasuke sure wasn't awkward with compliments. But he was giving his away carefully. Naruto watched his own little face light up as if Sasuke had just said that he was the smartest person in the world. "I'll go slower this time, okay? Just listen. When you add two of these numbers, you will get a result…"

They were really cute. Little Naruto was leaning to see better over little Sasuke's arm with an adorable frown on his face. He was confused. It was stupid and hard and he hated math so much, but he didn't want his mom to keep him in the house. That would be depressing, to know Sasuke was out in the woods. Not that he could do anything, there was no one too keep a look out so he couldn't do anything…

Naruto let his mouth fall open a little. It wasn't that little Naruto was reading well. But he was feeling it all, thinking it as if – as if – as if it was real and he was remembering it.

He glanced around. In the first line of desks there was a little Sakura sitting with a little Ino. He recognized several more faces – Kiba, Lee, Chouji . . . With every face, with every moment, he was more convinced. This had happened. It had happened back when he was a kid and living in Konoha with his parents. This conversation between him and Sasuke, it was a real memory.

But the classroom was fading. Naruto stepped back once, then twice – and even though he never went out through the door, he was in the hallway again. There was no door anywhere else but what he had just seen was still in his mind, clear and warm.

Naruto moved forward. Maybe there were more doors further down the hall. Maybe some of them contained the memory of how to get out. Or some clue, something to hold onto, maybe about why this was happening to him. Or what Sasuke was hiding.

As if the thought had summoned it – which just might be true – Naruto had to stop running when two small figures appeared in the hallway. He almost ran over them, but neither one of two very small boys noticed he was there.

It was Sasuke and him again, but this time even younger, maybe around five. They were both in pajamas, and little Sasuke was leading a tiny Naruto down the hall, carefully peering left and right as they went. He opened a double carved door with some effort. Tiny Naruto followed swiftly, grin plastered all over his face.

Naruto frowned at the door left ajar. It was doubtful this memory contained any clues for getting out if they were so young in it. He was better off moving further down. But the hallway didn't seem to offer anything but his played-out childhood memories. And if he was right and his thoughts summoned this particular one, maybe there was something he should see behind the door.

The room was huge and lit only by fire from a large, ornately-carved fireplace. Blinking a few times helped Naruto's eyes get used to it a little, so he squinted around. The place was full of books, with a nice round window in the center. His mind, when Naruto tried to label the place as a library, informed him that the place was familiar to him as _Sasuke's library_.

There was another boy inside. Using that weird space in his mind that was able to connect with things he'd never before been able to recognize, Naruto realized that it was Itachi, Sasuke's older brother by five years.

"We were quiet. Neji didn't hear us." Sasuke announced proudly and got a smile from Itachi.

"It wouldn't be that bad if he did. He was very nice the other night."

Little Sasuke didn't seem to like his brother defending Neji at all. He frowned. "He asked you a lot of questions. I don't like it when you stop reading to answer him."

Tiny Naruto let go of Sasuke's hand and ran clumsily to where Itachi was sitting on the floor near the fire with a heavy book in his hands. He climbed into a large armchair, only to have Sasuke drag the blanket from underneath him and push him so he could also sit in the chair and cover them both with it.

When they were both tucked in, tiny Naruto announced, "I ask many questions a lot."

Sasuke ignored him and his brother's questioning look. If there was a reason he didn't mind Naruto asking questions when he didn't like when Neji was doing it, he certainly wasn't explaining it.

"Read." He demanded instead.

Itachi smiled, opening the book. "The story is called 'The Fox and the Cat'. _It happened that the cat met the fox in the forest…_"

Near the door, Naruto blinked and snapped out of the scene. Sure it was sweet. Itachi was reading them a story, Sasuke was cute and amusing, but it just wasn't helpful. He started to retreat, yet couldn't help but take another look at the sight in front of fire. Itachi leaned in to cover one of Naruto's little legs with the trailing blanket a little better. Something thin and shiny fell out of his shirt.

Naruto froze. It was too late. The library melted into the dirty hallway again. It didn't matter, though. He recognized what he'd seen. The necklace Sasuke had wanted so desperately in the forest was Itachi's. That's who he was trying to protect.

He moved down the hall again. So, was Itachi the murderer, then? Was he the one who killed that man in the car? And anyway, Naruto only had Sasuke's word that it wasn't the same person who killed his godfather. Maybe he was lying.

But still, from the impressions of the memory of Itachi covering his foot, Naruto couldn't really believe Itachi had killed anyone. It was the only suspect he had for now though. And once he was out of this fetid place Naruto would explore it further. But for the moment, deep in his heart, he couldn't believe it.

Frustrated at himself for letting his emotions get in the way of a perfectly reasonable suspicion, Naruto sped up. Sasuke promised he would tell him about the necklace and everything he knew. He just had to get out, get to Sasuke. No more stopping, no more memories. It wasn't as if he would find the killer in his memories.

There was something at the end of the hallway, something . . . _red_. Naruto, focused on it entirely, almost got hit in the face when another door suddenly appeared and opened on its own in a wide arc. He changed direction at the last moment and smashed into the opposite wall.

The red thing at the end was a constant glinting distraction. Naruto dared to glance through the opened door across from him. That place, he recognized it. It was the bathroom of his first apartment, just as small and horribly blue as he remembered it. Across from the door he could see the bathtub. Someone was inside of it, though Naruto couldn't see their head despite looking at it from a higher position. He could only see a leg that was hanging over the edge of the tub.

And just like he recognized the memory earlier, Naruto knew this too. It was his roommate in that tub. It was poor Bee, the huge guy with unrealistic ambitions who had answered Naruto's ad for a roommate. He disappeared a few months later without a trace, leaving all his things behind, and without paying for the rent. Only he didn't really disappear. Because, right now, Naruto was looking into his memory, all the suppressed feelings and fear was reaching out through the open door to remind him, to tell him…

His roommate somehow ended up in the tub of their bathroom, dead.

And Naruto had no time to deal with it so he turned toward the red glint at the end of the corridor and ran again. Whatever that was, no matter how real it felt, couldn't be true. Not in the same way as Sasuke teaching him math or Itachi reading him a story was. Naruto had his first apartment when he was eighteen. He remembered that year well. There were no lost memories from that period. Therefore, it couldn't be true.

Naruto barely managed to break the sprint fueled by fear and disbelief when he noticed that the hallway was behind him. He was deep inside a large room illuminated only by a bizarre red light that was coming from an indefinable source. His heavy panting was coming back to him in an echo.

Naruto squinted, looking around. The room was empty, aside from the bars that were splitting it in half. They reached higher then his gaze could, and from wall to wall. There was no way for him to continue on from here. It was a dead end unless he found a way to get past those bars.

They were thick and just far enough away from each other so that Naruto couldn't slip through. He tried, pushing hard against them until his chest hurt. There was no way. He would have to go all the way back down the hall and try the other side. It would take forever, but if there was an ending on one side than there should be an end on the other.

Before he could completely get out from between the bars, though, his eyes caught something. On the other end of the room, there was his old bathtub. The leg was still awkwardly hanging out at the foot of it and it looked just as it did back in the memory-room. But here, the rest of the bathroom was gone, leaving just the bathtub . . . and the corpse inside of it.

"It's your fault he ended up that way, of course."

Naruto turned to face the source of the voice coming from the other side of the bars. He was not very surprised to see himself there, even if the smile on his face was tainted with red and looking like he was having oh so much fun. It was logical, after all, to see yourself in a place that was full of your memories. Wasn't it?

The other . . . _Naruto,_ cocked his head as if listening to Naruto's thoughts. "You realize that this place is not real, don't you? It is just how you imagine your mind is working. A long dirty hallway – how fitting for a one-track mind – and enough rooms to hide everything that is not your momentarily goal."

"If it's just my mind, I should be able to get out anytime," Naruto said, watching his reflection carefully.

"No. You are unconscious."

It was almost funny, how this other self was fixed up to look like a stereotypical bad guy from a movie; tight black clothes and a lot of dark make-up. His eyes were startling, almost a fluorescent bright blue. And the voice was Naruto's, but deeper, silky and appealing, like it had been borrowed from a stage illusionist.

"How can I talk to myself if I'm unconscious?"

The question was reasonable enough. And Naruto couldn't think of a better, more useful one for the moment.

"Hmm." The deeper variation of his voice hummed. Naruto felt goosebumps forming on his skin. "Maybe there is a better term for the state you are in now. I don't have a use for knowing such things – the important thing is that it means you are stuck in your head, and I am outside, having fun."

Having fun? What kind of fun would someone who looked exactly like Naruto imagined he'd look if he was evil, or acting evil, have out there with Sasuke? Naruto didn't want to know. He wanted _out_, so he could stop it.

"Who are you? _What_ are you?"

"Another mental manifestation." His reflection said, shrugging. "So you might as well stop making fun of my appearance. It's your imagination."

It seemed like the other him could read his mind – well, seeing that he was inside of Naruto's mind, that made sense. It also made sense that he might know the way out of here.

"How do I get out?" Naruto asked.

"Why would I tell you that? You regaining consciousness would mean nothing good for me."

So technically, he was asleep? Naruto, not really believing it would work, pinched his arm harshly. It hurt, but he was still looking at the emo-boy variation of himself through the bars. There had to be a way for him to get out, though. If he was aware, and he could fight it, then he had a chance. And then he could get out and help Sasuke.

Naruto looked desperately around again. There was nothing, nothing but the bathtub. Why was it his fault that his roommate had ended up there? He hadn't done anything.

"Of course not, I did. Not that he knew the difference." The other _Naruto_ answered to the thought without a vocal prompt. "What I meant was, he ended up like that because you provided me with some bad information. I was under the impression his body would melt if I put it in a bathtub full of a few chemicals."

Naruto frowned. "I don't know what chemicals would do that to a body. It's just a movie thing."

"Yes, yes, I know that now. I was too rushed for details at the time – he was rotting away quickly. I had to get rid of his body because of the smell. And it's not as if he was of any use in that condition, anyway."

What, exactly, could a corpse be for . . . ? _No_. There would be time to think about that later.

Naruto glanced at the tub again. That visible leg didn't look rotten. This – this thing he was talking to, it was lying. If his roommate was in the apartment for so long after he died, Naruto would have seen it. He couldn't have stayed unconscious for that long. He would have noticed if that had happened.

"No, not really. You conveniently suppress everything that has anything to do with me. I have been in control for days, at times." _Naruto_ put his hand on his neck, and stroked the skin there. "Ahh, that was fun."

"What do you mean," Naruto asked slowly, carefully while chanting inwardly lies, lies, lies, _lies_, "I _suppress_ things?"

"The city is a wonderful place. Much better than these woods here, where there's nothing but space and greenery and more space. The people here are too careful. They know too much. Out there . . ."

"I don't suppress things! You're lying! Bee ran off so he wouldn't have to pay his rent! I didn't kill him! _I didn't_!" Somehow, the exasperated look he got at the outburst reminded Naruto forcefully of Sasuke, and that he was in danger. He closed his eyes for a second, resting his forehead on the cold metal of the bars. It was so cool, so calming. Naruto swallowed, remembered how thirsty he was and gritted out, "How do I get out of here?"

His oddly mirrored face smirked on the other side, and winked. "I'll inform you when the good time for you to get out is. Be patient. _Trust me_."

He – _it_ - was clearly amused with its own wittiness, but the smug grin flattened quickly, turning thoughtful. Or patiently mocking . . .

"I wasn't making a joke earlier," _It_ said. "You've never fought this hard before. I don't know what it is about that guy, but it is making me curious. So curious that I might even let him survive today."

"What . . ." Naruto started, and then hesitated. Did he really want to know what this – this demon, or whatever it was, had been doing to Sasuke while he was helpless here?

Sasuke, who was on the outside or on the faraway end of that long, endless hallway, could be about to die and left to rot with one leg hanging over the edge of a bathtub.

Naruto looked up just in time to see the wink. "How about I show you?"

The bathtub popped out, just like it was a TV picture. It left behind nothing but complete darkness. Naruto squinted into it anyway and, predictably, it stayed that way.

"Over my other shoulder, kid." The mocking voice told him.

Naruto blinked and looked where he was directed. A huge mirror, embraced by a pair of what looked like life-sized eagle wings appeared there. The surface of it was just like the moonlight on water, not completely smooth, and a very dark blue. It had a light of its own but Naruto couldn't tell where it was coming from, only that it was pretty and dreamy.

The surface of the mirror stirred and then stilled completely, solidifying brown and yellow smudges into a picture. The yellow part, Naruto realized, was him even though nothing on him was, exactly, yellow. The brown smudges became the carved wooden wall of the inn.

Breathless from the anticipation and the cold of the bars that he was again pushing hard against, Naruto demanded, "Where is he?"

His alter ego - or whatever - smiled a little and shook his head, not looking away from the mirror. His unnaturally blue eyes darkened against the light from the mirror.

In the mirror – back at the inn - Naruto moved across the floor. Like a four legged mammal, he was only using his hands and toes. The grace of an animal was making him seem light, and quick. The picture moved with him, like a camera, until Naruto leered at Sasuke and put his head in his lap. It was silent, that movie, but there was no need for them to hear it to know Sasuke was telling Naruto a story about . . . something. Some fox that that had possessed a kid and . . .

Naruto unglued his gaze from the mirror picture, which was showing him holding his head on Sasuke's chest, to meet the startling blue eyes this thing had borrowed from him. It almost blinded him, the shine and the smirk. Naruto blinked several times. When he looked again the variant of himself on the other side of the bars had huge fox tails laying lifelessly all around him.

"What? You had to know he was talking about me."

Naruto couldn't breathe. He broke out into a cold sweat; heat was crawling against his insides, making him want to move, or cry. The bars were too hard, squeezing him like a live trap that just waited for him to slip so far into it. And the things he remembered Sasuke saying felt like they were burning out the little oxygen he was managing to take in.

With effort, he glanced at the mirror again. The last part, when he had climbed into Sasuke's lap and begun licking his neck, was foggy but Naruto could still feel the taste of hot skin on his tongue. He could still feel Sasuke's heart beating, so strong, so close. And he remembered, with a pang of sickness and overwhelming guilt, what a thrill Sasuke's fear was.

Forcing more air into his lungs, air that threatened to fuel nothing but panic, Naruto managed, "Show me what is going on there _now_."

Body parts, blood, screaming, so much pain and then more pain; Naruto saw it all. The fire burned him, the yelling was deafening him and he couldn't, he _couldn't_…

"Um, no." The thing answered lightly and snorted. Startled out of the panic attack, Naruto inhaled harshly. "It's not as if you'd like it." And after a moment, it added, "Want me to help you with that?"

Naruto froze when the other him stepped closer, grabbed his sleeve and pulled him forward. The bars seemed to tighten even further. They weren't just cutting off his breathing, now they were also hurting his stomach. But he slipped a little bit more to the other side and that helped to widen them.

It helped to widen . . .

Suddenly, the impact of what had just happened struck him fully. Naruto pushed again in the opposite direction. The bars instantly opened for him, let him breathe and get back to his own side of the room.

"You," he gasped, because there was instantly too much air, "you _wanted_ me to walk through the bars!"

His sleeve was still caught in the hand of the thing wearing his face and those tails, but Naruto was not afraid. The thing couldn't get out. It wasn't even willing to go near enough to touch the bars. Naruto yanked his arm away.

Those intense blue eyes narrowed in anger. "Don't you want to see what happened to Sasuke?" It asked.

Naruto glanced at the mirror. The picture of him biting into Sasuke's shoulder, like some fucking vampire, was frozen. He wanted to know very, very much what had happened to Sasuke, but he stepped back anyway.

"I can see very well from here."

The mirror vanished. There was nothing now, nothing but huge dark space and the Naruto-look-alike just behind the bars and, of course, Naruto himself.

"Suit yourself." The figure, fading into darkness, shrugged. Naruto turned away from it. The other end of the hallway was suddenly there. The voice boomed behind him, still his own, but deeper, older, finally sounding like it had before in Naruto's head. "Do me a favor, will you? Tell him I know what he's up to. It won't work."

Naruto didn't turn, he didn't ask for clarification. The bastard was just stalling him. He hurried back to where the room was narrowing into the hallway, the sound of his steps louder than his heavy breathing.

As if the line separating the rooms was a magical border, the blinding light from the other side made Naruto close his eyes as soon as he stepped over it. He tried to open them after a second, but it was still too bright. His nose was itching; his knees were kind of cold and sore, and there was a faint but definite taste of blood in his mouth.

Naruto took a deep breathe and recognized the hammering against his chest, and also the familiar room around him. Sasuke's fear, violent as it was, awoke in him an urge to puke after all that, and the traces of blood on his tongue weren't helping.

Sasuke moved beneath him, using Naruto's stillness to push him off. Naruto let him, ending up on the floor. He could feel more than see Sasuke rising up on his knees quickly.

"Naruto?" he asked. Or maybe tried, and failed, to demand, so Naruto concluded that he was fine for the moment. He leaned over more without even trying to stop the heaving.

Nothing came out. The urge went away, leaving Naruto feeling tired. His nose caught the smell of the chicken Sakura had probably prepared before going out. His stomach whined and growled, but there was no pain in his head. There was no fuzziness. He knew where he was. The wood in the inn was triggering a special, welcoming feeling.

Sasuke was kneeling not too far away, wiping a thin stream of blood off of his arm and shoulder and waiting for him to answer. Naruto's ears were still full of his own heartbeats. But he was calming down, obviously able to tell that he was himself.

"What," Naruto finally asked, perfectly aware there were more important things for him to ask. "What were those boards we were dragging into the woods for?"

There was about six feet of hard floor between them. Sasuke was kneeling, but his every muscle was tense. His shoulders relaxed a little at the question, though. There was curiosity in his eyes.

But he didn't ask if Naruto remembered anything. "For the tree house."

Of course it was for the tree house. Of course they would have a tree house. Of course, because that was just so normal.

Naruto took a moment to mourn that he had asked the question. He was so tired, but he had more impotent questions, damn it.

"What is that thing inside me?" he asked. Sasuke opened his mouth and ended up just wetting his lips, frown firmly in place. Naruto changed his mind. "No, fuck that. How did it get there? I'm a – am I _possessed_?"

"No. That implies the thing inside of you stays there willingly, and it doesn't." Naruto took a long, silent moment to soak in that he was not crazy. He couldn't hear Sasuke's heart any longer. But his voice was still shaky. "It's trapped there."

Naruto thought about the bars, about how you unlock a cage that has no lock. He wanted to ask who had made it and how, but there was a more important thing he needed to know.

"How do I get it out?"

It came out more forcefully than he had intended, but Sasuke didn't seem upset as he shook his head. "I can't tell you that."

"Why not?"

"Because everything you know, the demon knows as well."

Naruto felt the word 'demon' as a wave of icy water crashing on his chest. "He said to give you a message. He said he knows what are you up to and that it won't work."

Sasuke actually smirked. "I'm not up to anything. You are delivering the message to the wrong person."

Well. The demon had not specified who the message was for. It made sense to Naruto that 'it' had meant Sasuke, but it hadn't actually said so. Which brought up another question . . .

"So why did you stay with me?"

This time, Sasuke hesitated with more purpose. He seemed to be picking his words carefully.

"The demon is known for going after the nearest person dear to the host. And in Konoha . . ." Sasuke looked away. "Sakura had just left. I wanted to distract it."

The nearest person dear to the host? Naruto thought about five year old Sasuke covering them both up in the library armchair and wondered if closeness had anything to do with his memories, or would the demon go after Sasuke instead of Sakura any day?

He also wondered why the answer Sasuke gave him stung so much.

"How do you know so much about it?"

Instantly, like he'd been expecting it all along and was ready for it, Sasuke said, "Because that – thing, you have inside of you… My family sealed it there."

Naruto opened his mouth wide. Not to talk, but to take in more air. He needed to ask more… but Sasuke already knew that.

"It was supposed to be me." The words were quiet, almost ceremonial for the unwavering gaze Sasuke was holding on Naruto. There was nothing apologetic in his voice or in his words, but it felt as if he was apologizing anyway. "Have you heard about my brother? How he... ran away from home on the same night you disappeared?"

Numbly, Naruto nodded, even though he wasn't sure he had heard that it happened on the same night.

"He refused to go along with it."

Which was good, very good. Naruto had been right. Itachi was not a bad person.

His chest burned with pain, still.

"So how did it end up in me?"

Sasuke was still looking at him with the same steadiness. Naruto wanted him to stop that.

"You were a convenient replacement, the only person around when my father announced my aunt was supposed to arrive the next morning, so they can do the transfer. She was getting rapidly sick, they had to do it sooner then they thought – not that it was meant to help _her_. But Itachi wasn't done researching, so he did the best he could." Then, with a hovering little smile Naruto felt was inappropriate, Sasuke amended. "Well, he did the best he could for _me_."

Again and again, inside of Naruto's head, Itachi leaned to cover Naruto's foot. He let the silence stretch. It was Itachi's fault he was stuck with that . . . _thing_, inside of him. It was Itachi's fault he was an orphan, homeless and alone, something he would think about in a minute, as soon as he managed to cross this flaming bridge. It was all because Itachi couldn't make it in time to help his little brother properly.

Fuck it. He was a ten year old boy who hadn't done anything to deserve such a fate.

Naruto glared up at Sasuke. "Your brother stuffed it inside, so he's gonna get it out. Where is he?"

Ignoring Naruto's anger completely, Sasuke said, "That was ten years ago. Itachi didn't stop planning on how to get rid of that thing for good, you know. And now… He's ready. That's why you're here."

The photo; Sasuke had been talking to Itachi on the phone yesterday, from what Naruto had overheard. But, what did the photo have to do with anything? He still hadn't showed it to anyone. What was it that Itachi was planning? Was the demon's message for him?

When Naruto opened his mouth, even he wasn't sure what would come out. Nothing did, though, because the door of the inn opened and steps echoed down the hall before a figure looked down on where Naruto and Sasuke were still sitting on the floor.

Sasuke jumped to his feet. "What are you doing here, Neji?"

_How?_ Was probably a better question to start with. Naruto was pretty sure Sasuke locked after he had pushed Sakura out.

Neji – a tall guy with long hair and a very beautiful, although slightly feminine, face – sneered at Sasuke's dirty clothes. He was the cousin? The one people all around Konoha were talking about would be the heir instead of Sasuke. The one Sasuke hadn't wanted to interrupt Itachi while he was reading.

"Your father sent me, of course," Neji answered. "To pay for your stay in this place. He believes it is about time for you to return home."

Sasuke made a little frustrated sound in his throat and turned to climb the stairs without a word. That left Naruto sitting on the floor between the inn's hall and restaurant, looking really stupid when Neji turned his disapproving eyes down on him.

After a moment of awkward silence, Naruto said dumbly. "Er."

Neji narrowed his eyes further.

tbc

* * *

A/N: What, no notes? O_o

I just hope you didn't all forget about this story, it's been a while... :D


	8. Chapter 7

Backwoods, chapter seven

* * *

Naruto washed his face once again and stared at the mirror some more. He was pale. His eyes were bloodshot, almost disappearing in the dark circles surrounding them. His jaw hurt from clenching. And even though the water wasn't helping much, he splattered some more over himself and watched as it soaked another part of his mostly wet clothes. Nothing was helping him stop shaking.

When that guy – Neji, of course it was Neji - that came looking to talk to Sasuke stayed behind for a moment, Naruto had wanted nothing more but for him to leave. It was annoying to have someone watching you so carefully. His entire body was sore as if he was running the marathon; as if he was actually running down that hallway. But Naruto knew that it had to be some kind of hallucination. He wasn't feeling well, and he just wished that Neji would get out of his face.

As soon as that happened, Naruto regretted it. He was left alone, completely alone at the very edge of the dining room that was still sparkling with the afternoon's sun, unable to do anything but think about what had just happened. What he just heard, from Sasuke and from…. The demon? That was so odd to think. It was impossible. It just has to be some kind of madness, and Sasuke was either crazier than Naruto the Hatter or a clever doctor trying to catch him and give him a shot. Because he was talking crappy wet shit and then he disappeared to fight with his cousin in his room, leaving Naruto to stand on the empty ground floor of the inn and wonder if starting to scream would somehow help.

After some long minutes, Naruto decided that he would do better wondering about his sanity in some clean clothes. He walked though the hallway pointedly avoiding the carvings on the wall. They did not seem as if they could possibly be as beautiful as they did that morning. Up the stairs, Naruto almost ran while passing Sasuke's door. Neji had said why he was there already. If Sasuke decided to give in and go home… The talk inside was in shushed voices, but still loud enough for him to hear Sasuke's voice clearly. And he sounded annoyed and not insane in the slightest, which was not good.

In the bathroom, Naruto had first peered into the mirror. He hated what he saw there. He hated his exhausted face, dirty clothes and most of all, he hated that there was no bruise on his face. There should have been one. Sasuke hit him so hard; the entire world was ringing and swaying.

When some stray drops tickled Naruto's left calf, he finally turned the water off and stripped out of the wet clothes. He needed to think without calling himself crazy after the first sentence. He should just… _pretend_ that it's all real and think of it like that. Like he didn't really believe it, like he was… playing a game. A horror survival game.

Alright. So he had a demon trapped inside himself. Assuming such things existed and people were clever enough to seal them inside each other, why would someone do that? Naruto was busy trying to figure out the mechanics when Sasuke was talking, because his first instinct was to get the fucking thing out as soon as possible. But now, he also wanted to know _why_. Why the fuck did his family want to seal a demon in Sasuke?

Itachi didn't allow it to happen. Naruto felt equal amounts of utter hatred and liking for him. It was very good of him not to let something like that happened to his brother. But he should have found another way, someone else…

That wasn't really fair to think, was it? _Not Naruto_ meant somebody else - somebody else with a life and a soul and consciousness. No matter who was it, the person Itachi sacrificed for Sasuke, it would have to be _someone_. It wasn't as if Itachi had planned to use Naruto. It just happened.

It… just happened. But it still hurt so fucking much.

Once Naruto let his thoughts run there, it was easier. He was so busy trying to understand the past; he didn't have to think about the present.

There was a good thing about all that. Naruto was starting to remember. Maybe they were just pieces – some terrible, horrible – but they were mostly pieces about Sasuke. And a little about Itachi. And about his roommate, poor, poor guy…

Better to think about Sasuke. They were best friends when they were kids. Naruto couldn't see it, not really. Sasuke was… temperamental, from what he could see. Naruto also had a short wick. They would never survive being best friends. They both needed someone stoic, someone quiet and… Gaara.

Naruto almost stumbled over his feet in the haste to reach the phone. He needed to talk to Gaara. It there was anything wrong with him, Gaara would know. He was the one dragging Naruto home most of those times when he had those short memory collapses. He would know and Naruto trusted him.

After the second ring, Gaara picked up, saying, "Naruto."

How on Earth he knew it was Naruto when he was dialing from the inn's phone? Naruto was wondering, but it was probably something small and stupid and he was just so happy to hear his friend's voice.

"Hi." He said. His voice was shaky and tired.

"Have you found out something?" Gaara asked without delay. "Anything?"

It was so good to hear him talk, to imagine him on the other side, monotone and stable as ever. Naruto could feel himself relaxing some. He sank into the pillow, holding the phone tightly to his cheek.

"God, I hope not." He said, and tried to clear his throat. But the rest of it came out just as trembling. "I don't… I can't think properly, but if what I found out so far is the truth…"

"Pack. Sit on the bike. Come home. Who the fuck cares?" Gaara said, sharper than before. Worried. Afraid for him. Naruto wished he was confused and asking questions. They would make sense, and Naruto would make some sense out of them.

_Pack. Sit on the bike. Come home…_ Could he do that? Kakashi would not like it, but… Naruto wanted, for a minute there, to do exactly that. Run away from everything that had happened.

Only if he really had a fucking demon inside of him, he couldn't run away from that.

"Gaara…" Naruto said his name to prepare. He wondered idly if it means anything, because saying it certainly calmed him down a little. "Do I… act weirdly sometimes? Like when I get hurt? Do I get… violent?"

"Not with me." Gaara said. There was a hint of defensiveness in his voice.

"But with other people? Did I ever hurt anyone… and forgot about it?"

"What exactly is it that you found out there?"

Naruto, already on the edge and desperate, snapped in a voice that was just a breath away from being full of tears, "You are not answering me! You can't lie to me, I have to know! Did I hurt anyone? I did, oh, God, I know I did."

"Naruto, calm down." Gaara said clearly. On his side, something banged loudly, but that did not sidetrack him. "You're safe. I made sure that you would be."

He was still not answering, the fucking bastard. Couldn't he hear how badly Naruto needed to know what happened? Couldn't he…? …He made sure _what_?

Carefully, Naruto whispered, "You made sure…?"

"Your police records are clear." Gaara said. "Father thought he was taking care of... but that doesn't matter. You are not wanted or anything."

And Naruto was grateful, he was and so much, but that meant... It meant that he had hurt someone. He had hurt his roommate. Was there someone, something else? How much more of it?

"How bad was it?"

"It doesn't matter. You were not responsible for it."

Naruto laughed, bitterly. Was he sane and possessed or insane and a serial killer? "I'm not?"

"No." Gaara said. "You don't think I'd try to protect you if I don't mean that? You have a disorder, I read all about it before I did anything to help you. It's called split personality."

Naruto's bitter laugh turned slightly hysterical. He watched movies. He knew what that was. And even though technically incorrect… He could certainly see what Gaara would think that. He had two different personalities, alright. Only one of them was a demon with a taste for blood.

"It matters. How bad was it? What did I do? Have I ever hurt you?"

Gaara repeated flatly, "It doesn't matter."

"It fucking well does! Tell me!"

His yelling caused some hesitation on the other side, before Gaara answered. "It's pretty bad sometimes. I try not to get into details. You never hurt me or my family. I would not protect you if you had." That made sense. The demon was not stupid. He knew, obviously, that Gaara and his family were rich and powerful. It knew Gaara was helping keep Naruto out of police trouble, so it didn't hurt them. How… oddly restrained if it. "Your other… you, got rather horny, though. I'm pretty sure no one in my house managed to avoid that."

Naruto thought about how scared Sasuke was, how his heart was beating when he returned into his body. How Naruto was sitting on him, biting and licking… _The fucking demon_.

"You don't mean rape, do you?" Naruto asked, panicking a little despite of the memory of Gaara's firm voice saying he wouldn't protect him if he hurt anyone in his family.

"No."

Naruto sighed, "Good."

"Kankuro said the same thing." Gaara said. His voice was still as flat as ever, but that was clearly meant to be a joke. Naruto disliked Gaara's older brother with passion.

"God, do shut up." Naruto answered, tired. "I don't care how many personalities I have and how evil they are, I did not... do your brother. He's… hairy."

Okay, so Naruto wasn't exactly sure if Kankuro was hairy, but he had his suspicions.

"If you say so." Gaara answered. "Do you feel better now? What happened over there?"

Naruto felt better. Somehow. "I ran into some old friends. I met my Godfather. He's dead now."

Gaara did not ask if Naruto was the one who killed him. For the first time since he managed to wake up before the demon hurt Sasuke, Naruto didn't feel like he did. Gaara's interpretation of his mental state actually convinced him that Sasuke was telling the truth. There was demon inside of him. It killed and hurt some people, including Jiraiya. What Naruto had to do with them was get his shit together, make Sasuke take him to Itachi - who seemed to be the one with the solution in his hands - kick the demon out and then _kill_ the fucking thing over and over again until he's sure it's dead and in hell.

"Come home." Gaara said, again. "You will get in trouble there, all alone."

_The people here are too careful. They know too much._

Naruto smiled as he opened his eyes to look at the opposite wall. That was what the demon had said. If anyone, Kakashi was one of those people who knew too much. That was why Naruto was still running around free, wasn't it?

"Don't worry. I'll be just fine." Naruto said and closed the phone before Gaara could offer to come or something. He was better off where he was. And Naruto was feeling good enough to plan. Good enough to test some things and ask some questions. The _right_ questions.

He finished putting clothes on him and got out of his room. It was sunset already – how long was he in the bathroom, anyway? Judging by the wet clothes he had left behind, Naruto would say, long.

Sakura wasn't in yet, but that was okay. The only monster was in Naruto, who was firmly in control. She was safe, wherever she was. Maybe worried, but…

Naruto, who was checking the kitchen in order to be sure about her not getting back yet, got a brilliant idea. He should make cookies. That way, when Sakura came back, she would be pleasantly surprised. Hell, if Sasuke decided to be cooperative, they could even tell her it was the plan all along.

Head deep in the book, where Naruto was re-reading and trying to remember if he put sugar or not when he was making the cookies, he only heard when Sakura walked into the kitchen. Her step was light, eyes wary. Naruto grinned in welcome, and she relaxed a little.

"Hope you don't mind. I wanted to make something for you." Naruto said and pointed to the great, dark red cook book. "I found the recipe in here."

"You can cook?" Sakura asked curiously, sitting herself at the wooden kitchen table, on the opposite side from where Naruto had made a mess.

"I lived alone a lot." Naruto told her, suppressing the pang of horrifying guilt and chasing away the words _of course you lived alone when you were killing all your roommates_. He had to swallow before finishing, "I had to learn how to make a thing or two. Besides, it's not hard when you follow the recipe closely."

"Hm, I usually make things after the recipe only the first time. After that, I just let my senses guide me." Sakura said, relaxing some more. "But that smells good."

"Thank you!" Naruto said, now really hoping he had put the sugar in.

"And where's Sasuke?"

Naruto waved his hand dismissively. He pulled some flour off the table on the floor. Sakura frowned, but didn't say anything. "Last time I saw him, he went to talk to that weird-eyed cousin of his." Of course, technically, Sasuke had gone to his room and Neji had followed, but they still talked. "He's probably still there, Kakashi told us not to leave the inn."

As if those words somehow chased away the last of Sakura's fright, she smiled back at Naruto. "Maybe he would like some cookies, too?"

"He doesn't seem like the type to eat sweet." Naruto answered suspiciously, looking at the timer. There was still ten minutes left. "But we can drag him down here and pester him until he tries them first, in case I put some rat poison instead of baking soda in them."

Sakura snickered, "You think you can make him try if he doesn't want to?"

Naruto grinned at her, feeling really weird that he can grin and talk normally and act like there was nothing wrong, and caught her sleeve to make her stand up quicker. "I got some of my memories back. I can blackmail him into tap-dancing naked in front of people."

"Hardly." The voice answered, startling them both. It was Sasuke, approaching from the darkened hallway, hands in his pockets. Naruto wished he could see his face, but it was in heavy shadow. "I've never done anything that horrible."

"Rat poison it is, than." Naruto said letting go of Sakura. He gestured them both to follow him to back to the kitchen. "I bet the stuff would not even make you sick."

Sasuke didn't answer at all as him and Sakura set side by side at the table. Sakura was smiling. Sasuke was watching Naruto carefully; like he was afraid Naruto would jump on the table and start performing clown tricks. Or, er. Let the demon out to attack Sakura and him.

"So are you going to tell me what happened this afternoon?" Sakura asked after a moment. Naruto froze. He should have known she would ask. He should have thought of something to say. "Why did you send me out like that?"

"The moron tripped and fell and was puking all over the place." Sasuke shot out. Naruto blinked for a moment, wondering how in the name of God was he expecting of Sakura to buy that, before it hit him.

"What? No, I didn't! You hit me!"

"I did not." Sasuke asked, a tiny smirk tugging the corner of his mouth. Sakura looked between them, wary. "If I did, you'd have a bruise to show."

Oh, great. The bruise got healed. He didn't have it any longer. Naruto glared, but Sakura interrupted, "Okay, okay, it was obviously some very important, private business between the two of you. Naruto, take that out, before it burns up."

Naruto listened. Okay, so maybe she didn't buy it, but at least she wasn't demanding the answers. Maybe Sasuke knew what he was doing after all. He put the cookies to cool off on the edge of the sink.

Alright. Naruto was feeling a little better about what he was about to do with Sasuke there. Questions time.

"So," He asked, looking at Sakura over the table and nodded toward the hallway. "What's with all those engravings there? I keep staring at them since I came. Who made them?"

Sasuke raised his eyebrows at him, but he glanced sideways to hear what Sakura would say.

"We don't know." She answered without any hesitation. "People ask that all the time, but we really have no idea. The place came that way when my family bought it. It's interesting, though, huh?"

"Pretty." Naruto said, more relying on what he thought before then expressing what he was feeling. "I keep looking at them. Random, but the animals are so well done."

"Well," Sakura said, glancing back at Sasuke. He gave her a one shoulder shrug. Encouraged, she continued. "It's supposed to tell a story. Every engraving in the hotel should, but the one across from the dining room… It's not very nice."

"Oh?" Naruto asked.

"I told him the story already." Sasuke said. "He just wants to hear it again."

Sakura looked at Naruto with distaste. "But why? It's horrible and it's certainly not true."

No one said anything about if it was true or not. Sakura sounded very defensive. People here know too fucking much, indeed. Naruto was feeling better about the entire decision to stay in Konoha by the minute.

"Because it's stupid." He said. "It makes no sense. I don't see the point of someone very talented using their time to engrave something so stupid in the wall. They'd do better with Little Riding Hood tale."

"The story is about a forest demon possessing a child through some kind of blood ritual." Sasuke said sharply, making Sakura inhale and stare at him, startled. "You think there is something stupid about it?"

"No such things as demons. " Naruto said, making a no-no gesture with his finger. Sasuke gave him something that was probably his variation of an eye roll. It was kind of unreal, having that conversation. With the demon listening. For some reason, it seemed amusing to Naruto. "And I see no reason for it to possess the kid. Why would it do that? It needed a human body to kill people or whatever it was doing? But wasn't that fox…. er, you know, it had the body before. It could – claw someone's eyes out, if it was really getting off on gore and stuff like that."

"Well," Sakura said, thoughtfully. "Maybe clawing someone's eyes out wasn't enough. Or maybe, it happened by accident. But, Naruto, you should be careful about saying things like that. Some people here actually believe in that story."

Naruto's forgot how to breathe for a moment. They did? They _did_ believe it.

"But," He said, trying to sound confused while his heart was dancing. "Why would they…?"

"You hear things, you know, growing up here. Weird, horrible things." Sakura said, lowering her voice. Sorry, Naruto thought with a highly inappropriate urge to snicker. You can't really hide from the demon while I'm listening. "And sooner or later, you start asking yourself about them."

Sakura paused, but both Naruto and Sasuke were focused on her entirely. She smiled a little and continued in confidence, "The first year when the bar opened and we were allowed to go there… We weren't very... restrained. We drank entirely too much." She glanced at Naruto with an odd, apologetic smile, like she thought she was offending him somehow. "Not much else to do here."

"I wasn't there?" Sasuke asked and she nodded.

"No, it was when…"

"Yeah."

Naruto wanted to know where was Sasuke and why, but he wanted to hear Sakura's story more, so he asked, "So you were drunk and?"

"And we started talking. About things in general, about how Konoha was a bad place to live. Someone mentioned the legend, so we started fighting. You know, some said it was stupid, some that it was the truth. Kiba is especially convinced that it's all true…" Sasuke knocked his knuckles on the wood and Sakura blinked and dropped the Kiba stream of thought. Naruto glared at Sasuke across the table. He warned her off not to tell what, exactly? Was he protecting Kiba, trying not to set the demon at him the next time it got out? "Shikamaru had said we could check. So we gathered and went to the city hall. It was about three in the morning, but well. Lee took the keys from his uncle, so we didn't have to break in."

"I tried that. Years ago." Sasuke said. "They keep awfully little documentation in there."

"Supposedly, there's been a fire." Sakura said. "Wait a minute, they cooled down. I'll bring some milk."

She stood up to go over the table through the door. It was a cooling storeroom; Naruto had a glance at it before.

"And that's it?" He asked after her, disappointed. "You didn't find anything?"

"We did. Wait a minute."

Naruto took a sit on their side of the table, on Sasuke's other side. Better let Sakura take over the kitchen. Hey, maybe she would even clean up. That was a cheering thought; there was egg shells and flour everywhere.

"You are in a good mood." Sasuke said quietly.

"So are you." Naruto answered in kind. "You don't seem so scared of me any longer."

"Being actually exposed…" Sasuke said as something fell in the other room and Sakura yelled her reassurance. "Was not as scary as hearing about it was."

Naruto tried not to think about the bathtub. He failed and whispered, "You were lucky."

Sasuke glanced up at him, his eyes shiny and dark. "No, that wasn't it."

Sakura came back, effectively stopping Naruto from asking what the hell he meant by that. She was wearing the milk over her head, like a trophy. "I thought we were out."

She put three plates on the table and three glasses of cold milk before she sat down. When that was all done, she glanced at the cookies and then at Sasuke. He shrugged at her again. Naruto thought it was funny, but he wasn't about to get her out of her misery. She'd just have to suck it up and try them.

"I hope they are okay." He said, forcing worry and innocence into his voice. God, but it felt so good to joke a little on her expense right then. "I worked really hard."

Sakura cast him a frown and Sasuke leaned back in his chair, undoubtedly suppressing his amusement. She carefully took a cookie and bit a small, tiny piece.

"It's not… bad. But I think you didn't put in enough sugar or something." She said, swallowing. She started a little at the cookie and then bit off a larger piece. "Or at all."

Damn, he knew it. Well, at least she wasn't puking. But as if the statement that there was no sugar inside encouraged him, Sasuke took a cookie himself to try. He didn't make a comment, but he ate the thing while Sakura was looking at him like he was eating lemons, squinting and pursing lips.

"I have an idea." She said, jumping up again. Plates were very soon replaced by bowls, where she crushed cookies, put sugar inside and poured milk over it. Sasuke refused his share. He really liked the damn things as Naruto made them, the oddball. "Wait a little. They'll soften."

Naruto pushed the bowl away. "Okay."

"You said you found something." Sasuke reminded Sakura. "How come? I couldn't find anything."

"The church." She said. "Shikamaru's idea, of course. All baptisms and deaths are marked there. All the services the priests had to do."

"You broke into the church?" Naruto asked, amazed. He would never have thought of that.

"We were drunk." Sakura told them again, embarrassed. "And we really wanted to know. So we… er. Organized a little vandalism as a distraction. The church is always open in theory, but if the priest or someone else living close by saw the lights in the middle of the night… So Shikamaru snuck inside and looked over the books while Kakashi was trying to catch us on the streets."

"I remember hearing about that." Sasuke said at the same time when Naruto prompted, "And what did you find?"

"Too many suspicious deaths. Church doing the burials too many times on the cases labeled officially as suicides." Completely serious and a little distressed, Sakura turned to Sasuke. "From the time your great-grandfather founded this town to this day, but especially in the first ten years or so. Deaths among all generations, services for the cases that we all knew were disappearances. Some people, on their demand, were baptized several times. Or their kids were. There is only so much you can see from church documents, but we all know the stories."

"We do?" Naruto asked dryly. "And what did she mean, your grandfather? He was the one who liked the hunting and was taking his kid with him, wasn't he?"

"What did you expect?" Sasuke asked. Really, he should have known. Sasuke had said that it was his family that was sealing the demon. Why? They got off on their kids killing people? "The stories were that people started disappearing and then turning back dead, or completely insane, or mutilated and insane. Or mutilated and dead."

But never well enough to say anything that would give out a cue on what was going on. Konoha, so far from the world, so long ago… What a nightmare. Naruto stood up, nervousness and fear demanding of him to move. He took a glass and drank water, feeling Sakura's and Sasuke's looks on him as he moved.

"It sounds to me," He said, the tremble returning to his voice for the first time since talking to Gaara. "Like some sort of… Experimenting."

When he looked back, he knew he was right from the shadow on Sasuke's face. Sakura seemed to be thinking about it, but Naruto had no doubt. That man, Sasuke's ancestor, he saw some kind of benefit in what happened to his son. He was trying to find a way to keep it, after his son died. He was the one who killed and butchered those people, so he could find a way to do it. Between that insanity and the demon on loose… God. Konoha really was in the worst kind of nightmare.

"But," Sakura said. She looked between the two of them, widening her eyes. "You can't be really thinking that someone was experimenting on people in Konoha? Why, why would that…? And what does it have to do with…?" She was asking, more and more frightened with every word. Finally, she asked, "You think he was trying to save his son?"

Sasuke actually snorted on that. Sakura opened her mouth again, but he stood up. "I had enough of this shit for today. I'm going to bed."

No one answered, so he walked out of the kitchen without a word. Sakura looked back at Naruto, on the verge of tears. His chest tightened on the sight. So maybe Sasuke was onto something when he said he was trying to protect her. She whispered, "He doesn't think so."

"Well," Naruto said. She was probably better off scared these days. But he had to offer some comfort. "He doesn't really like his family."

She wasn't convinced, of course she wasn't. Naruto, mostly to avoid more questions, stood up as well. "I'm tired, too."

Sakura followed him right up. "Um, Naruto? Would it be a problem if I slept at Ino's tonight?"

Naruto frowned. Why the hell was she asking him? If she wanted to sleep at Ino's that was her business… But then it came to him, he was staying at her inn, she was the hostess. But she was also a friend, so he grinned easily. "Not at all. Would it be a problem if I woke up in the middle of the night and raided your kitchen?"

"Not if you also fix the mess you made." She answered and hesitated when they came to the hallway that had the entrance door on one side and stairwell on the other, with her hands around her. "Er. Walk me there?"

Now there's irony. But if that would make her feel safer…

Naruto walked with her almost to the restaurant's door. Ino lived nearby, apparently. Sakura wasn't afraid any longer, but he waited until she disappeared before returning to the inn.

Naruto looked up at the stairs for a while. He didn't want to go up to his room. He would not be able to sleep anyway. The demon could get out and…

He cleaned the kitchen. Then, with nothing else do, he found the rags and cleaned the floor of the dining room. Later, he tried to find some sense in the engravings on the wall and failed, probably because he was tired. There was nothing else to do, and after many minutes of restless napping at the table, Naruto started upstairs. The demon wasn't taking over every time he fell asleep, of course. He had small memory hole when that happened; Naruto thought he was just drinking too much occasionally, because it was happening when he was out. And the demon had taken over when he got a concussion. So his head had to be... alerted somehow. And he was fine, healed and with only some milk and cookies in his system. It was okay.

Once in his bed, freshly showered, Naruto couldn't even blink. He was beyond tired, but every time he'd try to close his eyes, horrible pictures were flashing in front of them. Maimed bodies, dead people, sick people, insane… They were walking the streets of Konoha in his head, walking and searching for some justice, for a cure or for something to eat. Like in a zombie movie. His hands were sweating, and Naruto kept wiping him off the sheets, every time expecting to leave traces of blood. The hallway of his mind kept appearing, with doors that opened into the Konoha's past… Or what he was imaging Konoha's past looked like.

He was wondering who was worse, the demon or that man that whose son was possessed first. Where the demon came from, anyway? From the backwoods of Konoha? From somewhere else, somewhere further away? Was the first possession really an accident?

If Naruto managed to fall asleep, would he end up having another conversation with the demon? Or would he sneaking across the hallway, with the intention to kill Sasuke? Kill, or maybe fuck him.

The demon said he liked his younger. But he didn't mind the Subaru family at all. Maybe it was lying, that's what evil things did. Maybe it just ultimately wasn't all that picky.

Naruto stood up from his bed and put just his pants on. Traveling light meant no pajamas; he never had much use for them, anyway. Not bothering with the shirt, Naruto walked out, crossed the hallway and knocked on Sasuke's door. The answer came much sooner than he expected, Sasuke opened them.

He was wearing pajamas and a shirt, groggy from the sleep and completely unsurprised to see Naruto on his door in the middle of the night.

"Can't sleep." Naruto told him.

"Of course not." Sasuke sighed and moved to let him inside. "I'll take it it's not the dark this time."

Naruto walked into the dark room, a little amazed. He didn't expect Sasuke to let him in. He was just going insane, all on his own. He was even looking forward to a fight over waking Sasuke up.

"This time?" He asked. "I've been doing this before?"

"You were always afraid to sleep alone at my house. For a good reason, apparently." Sasuke said, slipping back into his sheets. "Come on, then. You woke me up."

Come on, then? Just... come and sleep with me, it's perfectly fine? The guy was maybe sleepy and out of it, but was he fucking insane? That would not be okay even he didn't have a demon inside himself, just waiting for an opportunity to take a bite of Sasuke's head or… something?

"Er." Naruto said. "I was hoping you'd keep me company for awhile. It's not really safe for me to... You know. Not be around."

Sasuke opened his eyes again to look up at him from the pillow. The bed seemed so comfortable and inviting, Naruto really wanted to just climb inside. "Have you been drinking? Hitting the wall with your head? Taking drugs?"

"No, of course not!" Naruto said, but he was relieved. He had figured it out.

"Good. Then take some sleep, or you will be too tired and fucked up to keep control tomorrow."

Naruto closed his eyes, trying to think. He was overwhelmed by the sinking sensation. "But…"

"Naruto." Sasuke snapped, this time not opening his eyes. "I had a hard day, too. And that was after a very long night. Just get in."

Yeah, they both had a hard day. It started with Naruto finding out that his Godfather was dead. And after Sasuke made it through a sleepless night, probably because of his fear. Naruto then spent the morning in the police office, saw a dead person, they had a fight, Naruto's demon tried to rape and kill Sasuke, they had sugarless cookies and they are ending it in the same bed. Really long day. Hard day. Naruto was in bed before he knew he had decided to take Sasuke up on his offer.

It was warm and comfortable, and it smelled nice. Naruto stared at the ceiling, wondering if it was really okay for him to care so much about this guy and expose him like he was doing, alerted mind or not.

"Sasuke? Why are you being all friendly now? Why aren't you afraid of me any longer?"

Sasuke let out a hissing sound, annoyed. He was laying with his back turned to Naruto. "I have no idea."

It was clearly a lie; he just didn't want to share. Naruto wanted to ask more, make him explain, but Sasuke shifted a little closer. Naruto, who wouldn't have backed up even if he wasn't so startled, found himself with the face full of Sasuke's hair.

_He doesn't know, my ass_, Naruto thought. If that gesture wasn't a clear declaration of trust, nothing was. Sasuke apparently couldn't imagine Naruto letting the demon hurt him, not after that afternoon. And maybe it also had a thing or two to do with Naruto giving him back Itachi's necklace in the woods earlier. Now, finally, Naruto could understand why he was so upset when they had that fight earlier. With Itachi doing so much for him, Sasuke was probably considering him his only family.

Naruto relaxed, breathing in Sasuke's shampoo. It really was okay, then. He would never let the demon hurt Sasuke; not if he was awake and not if he was a sleep. Just like he didn't before.

***

In the morning, all Naruto found was a note and the other side of the bed empty. He would have felt exactly like a morning after, when you wake up alone and cold just when you thought that something had clicked and you found exactly what you were looking for. But the note short and was painfully sobering.

'_Wait there for Itachi to contact you_.'

So Sasuke gave in and went home after all. Or maybe he took off somewhere else? No, if he wanted to run, he wouldn't have waited the entire previous day and night around Naruto. What was it that his cousin said to him? That fucked up family, so fucked up in every way. Naruto hated it… But if Sasuke was away, at least he won't be in danger.

Or maybe he will be in even more danger.

Naruto got out of the bed instantly. He had more fucking questions, and he had to find someone who had the answers - maybe Kiba, Sakura had said that Kiba was a believer - preferably before breakfast. Although by the time Naruto was getting down the stairs, with the lovely smell of fresh food welcoming him, breakfast itself sounded very good.


	9. Chapter 8

Part Eight

Sakura had more guests that morning. Two guys, one slim and with hair so bright it was almost white and the other, bulkier, were sitting at one of the tables near the window when Naruto entered, eating their breakfast in silence. Naruto called good morning to them. He wasn't upset with the unenthusiastic response, because he was in a hurry to see Sakura. She was in the kitchen, judging by the sounds coming from there.

"Sasuke's gone." Naruto announced as soon as he had spotted Sakura making coffee.

She turned to him a short smile. "Oh, he's doing that sometimes, he's an early riser."

"No, I think he went home." Naruto had told her before taking the same seat he was sitting on the previous evening. "His things are gone and all."

The suitcase that had been on the chair next to the bed last night was really gone; Naruto had searched the room before going down. It was good that Sasuke had packed and was planning to leave before Naruto snuck into his bed last night. It was easing a bit the offence Naruto took in Sasuke not saying goodbye that morning – at least he wasn't running away because of Naruto invading his room.

"You were in his room?" Sakura asked with some scorn.

Er, should Naruto tell her that he had spent the night there? Something was telling him that that wasn't a good idea. It would read wrong, with her not knowing that Naruto had a very good reason to be afraid to sleep alone.

"…It was open?" He offered.

"Right," Sakura answered, going back to the boiling water. "I am not responsible if he goes berserk on you."

"You missed the point. All his things are gone. That means _he's_ gone, right?"

Sakura turned to pour fresh made coffee into two ceramic cups she had previously placed on the tray. She had stayed quiet until she finished, thinking, then sighed, "I guess so. You mentioned last night that Neji was here. I guess he had managed to talk Sasuke into going back somehow. Are you hungry?"

He was. "No, I want to go see Kiba. Where does he live?"

Sakura leaned on the table, hands gripping the edges on both sides of the tray. "You sure you want to wander about right now? It doesn't seem too safe."

It _seemed_ much safer than it was, with bright sunlight coming through the windows and smell of toasted bread and coffee lingering in the air. In daylight, it was easy not to be afraid of the shadows.

When they were not covering your soul, anyway.

"I can't just sit here." Naruto said, trying to imagine the demon in him as a huge, black shadow. He couldn't. He saw his own face instead. "My Godfather is dead and I…"

Sakura picked up the tray. Her hands were shaking a little, but not enough to spill the coffee. She had glanced at Naruto and down, back at him and down again, before she finally opened her mouth. "I guess this is the part where I offer any help I can give you."

Naruto hoped very, very much that he wouldn't have to ask anything more than information of her. He accepted anyway. "Thank you. Where does Kiba live?"

She gave him directions and added that he should probably see with Kakashi first, before leaving the kitchen. It was the good thing she'd mentioned it, because Naruto wouldn't have remembered. He didn't want to piss off Kakashi, if anyhow possible.

His first stop - after walking out on the street and determining in which direction Kiba's house was - therefore was the police station. Naruto went there, hurrying over the empty streets. As if for contradictory itself, bright morning wasn't as pleasant outside as it was in Sakura's lovely inn. The sun was glaring just a little bit too hard, and even though the birds were singing and some dogs barking, everything else, everything _human_, was quiet and careful. Naruto could almost smell the fear of Konoha in the air; it was eating the oxygen right out of his lungs.

He rejected the unreasonable thought as he stepped through the door of the police station. Kakashi wasn't in, only Chouji, who was pale and who had jerked when the door opened. Why the hell was Kakashi leaving him there all alone in the first place? Phone in his hand found its way up to his ear as Chouji gave Naruto a relieved smile that said more about how afraid he was then the expression he had on when the phone had slipped a little in his hand on the sound of the door opening.

That relief clutched painfully at Naruto's chest. Chouji would be much better off if he feared Naruto. The worst part was, Naruto couldn't just tell him – _no, you had it right on the first instinct, be afraid, I have a monster inside of me_.

But Sakura had offered him help in that awkward way that made it clear that she wasn't under an illusion that he needed help with exploring Konoha, or finding out about his past. Naruto wanted to talk to Kiba first… But he planed to tell as many people as possible to be wary of him, just in case. It's wasn't like that would mess up his social life, or anything.

"Hi," Naruto greeted. Chouji had waved before he pointed to the phone, to show that he was listening to the person on the other side. Too jittery to sit and wait, Naruto walked some around the tiny office. It was as if a bomb had went off in the room, there were files and papers, food wrappings, some shirts tossed over a chair in a corner. Konoha's police was obviously in over their heads, no time left for cleaning. Or even simply opening the windows; the air was stuffy, it smelled like stale food.

Chouji finished writing down what information he had got through the phone. "Sorry. People are not even bothering to call the station through the regular central any longer; they are dialing emergency number directly and demanding information."

To emphasize how much trouble talking to the curious people was, Chouji drained the bottle of water that was on his desk.

"Is Kakashi around?" Naruto asked.

"No, he's at Tsunade's."

"I wanted to check with him if it was okay if I went to see Kiba." Naruto explained. "But since he's not in, you just tell him I went there, okay?"

"Er, Naruto…" Chouji started.

But if Naruto let him finish, he could say that it wasn't a good idea and that he should wait, or go back to the inn… And Naruto couldn't do that, so he turned to walk out, not waiting to hear it, and yelled over his shoulder, "Bye!"

Half assured that Chouji would come out after him, Naruto ran. He descended toward the river, and with his heart painfully twisting in his chest on the sight of 'The Flirting Paradise", turned left. The road after a point, as Sakura had warned him, wasn't asphalt, just dirt pressed solidly as path from the years of being driven over in both directions by the motor vehicles.

The light breeze from the river had brushed over Naruto's skin, making him shiver when it sparkled cold on his neck where he was sweating already. He stopped just at the turn, bringing his arm up to press his hand over the slightly damp hair and ease the sensation.

Near the bridge, where weeping willows were almost touching the surface of the river water with the longest of their branches, someone was standing. Naruto spotted the person from the corner of his eye. _Sasuke_, he thought, whirling around to face him.

But that was just wishful thinking. Even under the shadow, with sun unpleasantly bright and shining right into Naruto's face, he was sure that it was Itachi. Trying to convince himself that it was for the better because Itachi was the one with the solution, Naruto took his appearance in. Black shirt on the top of the dark pants; all that on top of long dark hair that Itachi had left to fall free around his shoulders – no wonder Naruto's first thought was that he was Sasuke. Beside the appearance, they were obviously sharing taste in clothes as well.

Naruto had moved in that direction, right over the tall, sharp weed that cut and burned his skin after finding a way up his legs. As soon as Itachi was sure that Naruto saw him, he had turned and walked toward the bridge. Naruto wanted to run and catch up, but he was unable to get out of the wild grass and uneven soil. When he was on flat surface again, Itachi was already over the bridge. Naruto went that way without hesitation, even though it seemed as if there was nothing out there but woods. Was that perhaps the point? If anything, thick and rich woods of Konoha were allowing privacy.

From the middle of the bridge, the river seemed bigger. There was a small river island on the middle of the stream with naked, accessible sides – perfect for the inexperienced swimmers to have some rest when trying to get from one side to the other. Naruto wondered if he had learned how to swim on those shores. If so, he couldn't remember it.

Right after the thought had died out, unstoppable wave of guilt washed over him. It was so harsh and sudden, Naruto had to stop and grip at the handrail. What the hell was he doing? Like he was a tourist in Konoha, he was strolling around and trying still to trigger some stupid childish memories, when he was in danger – no, _worse_ - everyone else around him, was in danger.

Tasting the bile in his mouth, Naruto had raised his head before hurrying across the bridge. He had to focus better. He had to do something, and what better opportunity than catching up with Itachi and make him start whatever he had planed as soon as possible could there be?

Hidden among the trees, there was much more than just woods on the other side of the river. Just on the left from the road, there was a small gas pump and across the street, where Itachi had disappeared a second earlier, there was a church.

For the second time in that easy pursuit, Naruto stopped. A church? Why was Itachi going there?

Shoes glued to the dusty road, Naruto stared at the church tower that was peeking through the brunches nearby trees. It was obviously an old church, the roof seemed old, barely more than a ruin, but the sides glittered cheerfully in the sun. He had no idea what kind of church it was, except that the cross at the top was marking it clearly as Christian. Was it Catholic? What were the markings of a catholic church? If anyone had ever bothered telling him about it, in or outside of the school, Naruto couldn't remember.

But he could see clearly Temari, face careful and with an anxious smile and a small crucifix around her neck. As if testing the demon inside, Naruto made another step toward the church. Nothing happened. He made another step, then two. Still nothing, nothing at all. No reaction. No voices, trying to talk him into turning back. Nothing.

Not sure if he was disappointed or relieved, Naruto hurried to catch up with Itachi.

It couldn't have been the same church Sakura was talking about the previous night. This one was too old, out of use for many years. After climbing a couple of stone steps, you could walk right inside; there was no door. There was such mess inside that Naruto couldn't be sure if there were once or not in there. The only thing that seemed intact, or rebuilt, was the altar with a large but simple cross at the top of it. Itachi was standing next to it.

"Naruto." He said when Naruto settled his gaze on him.

Without the glaring light, it was easy to see, easy to remember. Both memories that came to Naruto that day when he first saw Sasuke slid back into place, clear. Naruto left the first one on the side for the moment to say, "I remember you."

"Sasuke had hinted as much." Itachi answered.

"No, no – from the city." It was in the bathroom of a club, Naruto couldn't quite remember where or when, but he had remembered that Itachi was there, that they talked for a bit looking at each other through the mirror. "In a club of some sort? I'm sure we were talking or..."

"That wasn't you." Itachi said.

And it sounded strange, so strange, because it _was_ Naruto, he wouldn't have been remembering it if it wasn't.

…Only he couldn't remember, not really. There was just a flashback of Itachi's face in the mirror that hit him when he first saw Sasuke at the inn.

How could Itachi tell the difference in him? Naruto wondered. What was he like when he wasn't himself? How was he acting, what was he talking? It surely wasn't always as predatory as it was when the demon had emerged in a hurry yesterday.

"Itachi?" Naruto said softly, fearfully. He wasn't planning on it; he had no wish to push those words out, not after going through hell in the last day not to think about it. But he wanted to know. He needed to be sure. "Was it me? Was I the one who killed my Godfather?"

"No." Itachi answered without a change in expression. Like they were still talking about when was the last time they had met. "But your body was used for it, yes."

"Then that's not a fucking _no_." Naruto tried to snap. It came out weak and sick.

"Just like all people who were hosting the demon before you," Itachi said calmly, ignoring when Naruto bent a little, just in case the nausea overwhelmed him again. His mouth filled with bile again, but there was nothing else. "It is not your fault. You are not any more responsible than a dummy would be."

"Great, I'm not responsible for killing people my hands killed, I'm just a dummy." Naruto said, deciding that no, he wasn't on the edge of crying. He was, in fact, angry. He should yell. Break things, maybe – if there was anything left in that ruin of a church to break. "Why did you do this to me? I was just a kid! And now I'm a murderer and a rapist and who knows what else!"

Itachi said in a quiet voice, "It was you or my brother."

"Well, you should've had stuffed it in yourself then!" Only that didn't sound so good, either. "Or kill it, set it free – why didn't you do that?"

"I don't know how to set it free, not even today." Itachi answered, not changing his tone at all. "And it is not possible to transfer the demon to yourself because the host is in great pain and has occasional blackouts during the process."

"During the process." Naruto repeated hollowly. "The vessel." Itachi wasn't saying anything, so he asked, "Was my memory wiped out because of all pain?"

"No."

Naruto waited, but that was all he got. He demanded, "_Well_?"

"I needed you away from Konoha." Itachi said. He was keeping his vacant eyes steady on Naruto, who was starting to feel like he was in a dream. The church had a nostalgic feel about it, the broken wood and collapsed concrete from the walls were a little sad, but the sun coming through of what was left of the stained glass of the window was cheerful, like trying to look at the things with optimism. "I needed to make sure that you will not return until I am ready."

"So you messed my memory? How?" This time, Itachi didn't bother to indulge him by answering. Probably _the mechanics_ of making someone forget their entire life were not all that important. It didn't sound all too tricky to find a way to do it, not for someone who was studying demons to save his brother from their crazy family. Naruto took a deep breath and closed his eyes against the light; maybe he could concentrate, ask the right questions if he didn't look. "But now you are ready. You sent me that photograph. A note saying _you're from Konoha_ would've done the job just as well. There was no need for unmarked gravestones."

"It's not unmarked, the photograph was taken from back side to capture the trees behind, so you would be able to find it more easily. It is where your parents were buried."

To find it? That was what Naruto was planning to do, find the place from the picture, ask questions about it. He never did it, even though it was his third day in Konoha. Things kept popping up and they seemed much more important.

They _were _more important. But later, Naruto would summon the courage to find the grave. He had to apologize, or something.

"How did they die?" Naruto wanted to know.

No answer.

"Was it also me?"

Nothing. Itachi, who moved to the side a little, leaned back, his back against the cross on the altar. He was just looking at Naruto, waiting for a question he thought was practical to answer, maybe?

"Do you even know what happened to them? _Was_ it me?"

Itachi said, "You are in Konoha now because I am ready. I will take the demon from you tomorrow."

Naruto's chest was burning. He really wanted to cry. But he also wanted the demon out of him. Everything else, he can try and deal with after that.

"Tomorrow night?"

"My father knows you well and he knows that you are in town. He will try to take back what he believes is his. The only reason I am talking to you, with the risk of demon hearing me, is because you have to realize that you need to make sure he doesn't get the chance." Time for questioning Itachi allowed had passed. He was giving orders now. "Stay among people – there should be no problems as long as your head is clear and you don't fall into a deep sleep."

Naruto, always the first one to raise his voice on being bossed around, nodded his understanding without a thought. He needed to know more, though, so he demanded, "Why? Why'd anyone want a demon around?"

There was nothing but silence for a moment. Naruto thought that Itachi had really used up all his patience for questioning, but he had some luck left. "Prosperity."

"Prosperity?" Naruto snorted. His sinuses felt full, even though he definitely wasn't crying. "It brought me noting but dead people."

"You've never tried for anything you didn't need. But what do you think, where has that scholarship you are wasting right now come from? You are hardly an academic, or an athlete."

It wasn't some grand scholarship or anything like that. Naruto really was surprised when he got it, though.

"It was just luck, I had applied for it mostly for kicks, and it so happened…"

"…That all people on the list before you either died by some accident or suddenly lost all interest in education due severe depression?"

That was, though sweetened on top, more or less what the woman in care of the scholarship told him after she had invited Naruto into her office. He was suddenly terrified. "But I didn't – it wasn't me, right? I don't even know who those people were!"

"It wasn't you at any case, but it wasn't the demon either." Itachi said in his calm, reasonable voice. Quite suddenly, Naruto wished Sasuke was there. He wanted to be yelled at, just because that was familiar, safe and sane. "It's just how it works. It brings success and good fortune to the carrier, but it backfires on people around him. You are lucky you were modest, or much more people would have died around you."

"Not much for comfort."

While Naruto was muttering that, Itachi moved forward. He was heading out, finished with what he came to do. Naruto had many more questions; he still wanted to know about his parents, about other people in the city, about what Itachi was planning… But when Itachi was walking past him toward the door, sun yellow from the stained glass caught in up in something around his neck.

Naruto cleared his throat, "I see Sasuke has given you back your necklace."

Itachi, already passing Naruto, glanced shortly over his shoulder, not answering.

"Who was that guy in the car?" Naruto tried again. "You killed him, didn't you? Because I know it wasn't me, I was in the police station, fully aware of myself."

No answer came. Naruto took a couple of steps toward the exit himself. He wanted to know about that as well, he wanted to follow Itachi and see where he was going, he wanted to go and see Kiba, but most of all, Naruto wanted to know one thing, so he asked it, voice desperate, just before Itachi was out of the door. "This entire thing… Will Sasuke be okay?"

That, finally, triggered a response. Itachi turned to look back at him, though it was as if he was looking _into_ him…

"He better be." Itachi said. Naruto's stomach flipped and dropped, and a thin veil of darkness covered his vision. He took a deep breath, focused on now empty door and the greenery outside. Even though he was the one asking question, Itachi was talking to the demon. He was warning the demon, threatening it.

He had caused Naruto to finally feel it, for the first time consciously. It steered in his stomach like a baby would in a mother's belly, and then it clutched at his insides with rusty iron nails and forcefully demanded to be let out.

Under a wave of satisfaction for being the one in control, Naruto smiled shortly.

Itachi was gone by the time he recovered. Naruto quickly ran over those couple of steps to the church door. He wasn't done, he had more questions, he should ask them - keep insisting until Itachi answered – but it was already too late. Itachi was nowhere to be seen. He certainly wasn't taking the road, so he must have disappeared into the woods.

Naruto walked around the church, listening. He was able to hear Itachi moving among the trees the pervious day; he should be able to hear him now. But there was too much junk on his way – old boards he had to step over, thick thorny bushes, even some tuna and soft drinks cans – so he was making too much noise himself.

A single car passed him, driving deeper into the woods on that side of the river. Only one, in all the time since Naruto had crossed the bridge. _Moon_ had more traffic than Konoha.

But Konoha had a number of dear, nice people that needed some warnings, so Naruto gave up on Itachi. He went back to the dust road that was leading to Kiba's house. It didn't take more than fifteen minutes before he arrived to a house at the end of the road. There was no doubt it was Kiba's house. Just on the side from the porch the – the coop, cage for dogs; whatever it was called – was starting and reaching to someplace far beyond the house. Naruto could count about five dogs lifting their heads to check out the visitor, but only one was barking at him as he approached the door.

It was enough of an alarm, for the doors opened just before Naruto had reached them.

Kiba did not smile when he saw Naruto. He looked preoccupied and worried, which was no wonder. But he said politely enough, "Hi. What are you doing here?"

"Just wanted a quick word." Naruto answered. "You have a minute?"

Kiba frowned, half hidden behind the door he was holding open. He opened his mouth to answer, but before he managed, his dog pushed next to him out. Naruto reached out automatically, just like he always did. The dog – like all the dogs always have - let him pet him without protest. Maybe, if Kiba doesn't kick him out once he explained why he was there, Naruto could ask why was it so easy for him to make friends with dogs. Weren't they capable of sensing evil?

Kiba, reassured by his dog's behavior, opened the door wider. "What about?"

Naruto took a deep breath and decided to go for naked honesty. "What would you say if I told you there is a demon in Konoha?"

Shock was apparent on Kiba's face. He was surprised and, apparently, speechless. The door open wider yet and another familiar face peeked out at Naruto. All traces of lethargy disappeared from Shikamaru's face, he was like a complete opposite of what he was in the bar two nights ago. He eyes were sharp and focused.

"I'd say that 'demon' is most likely not the correct term. It is much more likely we are dealing with some sort of forest spirit." He answered instead of Kiba. "Information for information?"

"Yeah." Naruto accepted without hesitation. Shikamaru and, moment later, Kiba moved further inside, leaving the door behind them open for Naruto to follow. It seemed much darker in the hallway then it probably was, so he had to take a moment to adjust. When he did, Naruto saw why Kiba was holding the door half closed; he had a shotgun in his hand.

Kiba was whispering furiously to Shikamaru, but Naruto had no problem of hearing.

"I said fine, I want to help, but not while _she's_ here. We'll scare her even more and I…"

Shikamaru caught Naruto's eye. "He can hear you, stop whispering."

"Is your family home?" Naruto asked after Kiba gave him a sheepish look.

"My sister has moved out of the town years ago, but I'm expecting my mum home by lunch, she's on the training field." Kiba answered. "But come in, you should probably hear this. Can we put off the – that conversation for a while?"

Shikamaru was already opening the door while Naruto was talking. Kiba halted, pointing the shotgun he was leaving propped on the wall, "And sorry about this, we're a little nervous."

"It's fine – as long as I can grab onto your leg and stay there." Naruto smiled. He was somewhat relieved they were so wary of him, though. It should make things easier. Kiba grinned in turn – it had in it just about as much of strain as Naruto felt on his own face. It felt nice to exchange them, regardless.

"Chouji called so we were actually expecting you, but you took your time. You got lost or something?"

"God sidetracked, I saw Itachi, we talked for a bit in that old church."

Kiba frowned, "Itachi? No, you mean – but that's not possible." Naruto had no idea what was he talking about, but he didn't like the pained look on Kiba's face. "What did he say?"

"We said later, right?"

Kiba nodded jerkily and lead the way further. Deep in the kitchen, at the table soaked in sunlight coming through the window, there was a girl with long black hair. She attempted to smile when she saw Kiba walking in, but her eyes were puffy, wet and exactly the same odd shade as Sasuke's cousin had. With excitement, Naruto realized that he might get some information about Sasuke out of this visit, too.

When Kiba smiled to the girl in turn, there was no stain in it. Naruto felt muscles in his face relax some and decided to take good where he can find some. From the way Shikamaru pushed a chair for Kiba to sit next to the girl, he thought so, too.

Feeling uneasy but hopeful, Naruto closed the door behind him.


	10. Chapter 9

Beta'd by Aerae

* * *

Part Nine

* * *

The name of Neji's sister – Sasuke's cousin – was Hinata, as Naruto had soon picked up. Her information was vague at best, and given through sobbing stutters. There was no doubt that she had no idea what was going on, but the tense atmosphere in the household of her uncle was getting to her. Her younger sister locked herself into her room.

Neji was all over the place, running errands for their uncle.

"Then Sa-Sasuke came home and they h-had this hor-horrible fight on the basement staircase." Hinata said.

Before Naruto could lean forward and demand details, he felt Shikamaru put a hand on his shoulder.

Hinata cleared up her throat. "Uncle was saying something about you, Naruto. But I couldn't – it made no sense." She shook her head, as if trying to shake off the heavy words.

Naruto, idly wondering whether he would get used to random people knowing who he was, asked, "Then what happened? Was anyone hurt?"

Anyone meaning _Sasuke_, of course.

"I don't know. I hid, I didn't want them to know I heard all that. But there was some noise, like – something heavy falling and… Uncle came back alone and there's no other way out, so I'm pretty sure Sasuke is in the basement. I tried to go and see later, but it was locked. So I – I panicked."

"Domestic violence is never pleasant." Kiba told Hinata seriously.

But Naruto had heard all he needed to. He stood up.

"You're not going there." Shikamaru sharply said from where he was standing behind Naruto.

"Of course I am. His father has him Sasuke locked in the basement."

"And it just so happened that Hinata was there, that she heard everything and is telling anyone who wants to hear about it. Don't be stupid Naruto. This is clearly a trap."

Naruto looked back at Hinata, who was staring at the two of them with confusion and fear. She didn't seem like a – a spy, or whatever Shikamaru was suggesting. She was honest, he could feel it in his gut. And she was getting upset again.

"Wha-at are you talking about?" She asked weakly. "What's going on?"

"It's just too much of a coincidence, for you to come to us." Shikamaru said. "I think your uncle used you to lure Naruto in. Even if he wasn't here, the story would've reached him quickly."

"But… Where else was I supposed to go? Kiba was so nice to me these last couple of weeks." Hinata returned, with her cheeks coloring. The excitement reduced her stuttering considerably. "I didn't know what else to do!"

"You did good, I'm glad you came." Kiba cut in. He smiled at her – a smitten, wide smile that in spite of everything made Naruto want to smile himself – before glaring up at Shikamaru and him. "You two, if you have more arguing to do, do it outside the kitchen."

Naruto took his words as his cue to leave. Only once he got to the front door, he realized Shikamaru followed him after all. "It's what they wanted, Naruto. You can't go there. I'm sure Sasuke would've told you the same thing."

"I'll ask him after I make sure he's okay." Naruto snapped. The expression on Shikamaru's face was worried, so he regretted it a bit and sighed. "Look, I'll be careful and quick. I'm good at that, I promise. They won't even know I was there."

"It won't do any good, not if they are expecting you."

"I am _really_ good. " Naruto insisted. Courtesy, he realized a second later, of the thing inside him. There went another thing he had been feeling proud of, something else that he thought his and good but it wasn't. "There's just no way am I leaving Sasuke there, so..."

"He is with his family."

"And his family is hurting him!"

Naruto opened the door. The sun blinded him for a moment. Shikamaru sighed again.

"I guess I can't stop you. But may I show you something first?"

"What?"

"If I could explain it, I wouldn't have to show it, now would I?" Shikamaru said with some annoyance, but that didn't stop Naruto to give him his most skeptical look ever. "I have promised you information on the spirits. This is a part of it."

Naruto hesitated. He wanted to know more about the thing inside him, but… "How long would that last? I don't want Sasuke to get hurt while I'm wondering around with you."

"Actually, it's in the direction you'll be taking anyway. The forester's cabin is half way to the Uchiha Manor."

Naruto squinted suspiciously. _How convenient_…

"Fine, well, let's go." He finally agreed. "But you know you can't take me to the wrong direction, right? I know exactly where their house is."

When the thought conceived in his head, Naruto meant it as a bluff. But as soon as those words left his mouth and he actually gave a thought to which direction would be best to try first, he realized that it was the truth. He knew exactly where Sasuke's house was. He could practically see the shape of the rook in his mind's eye, the statues in the garden behind the house, high iron gate and the long path that lead toward the front door…

Shikamaru shrugged and gestured Naruto to walk out. There must have been some sort of air-conditioning working in the house, because it seemed like the difference in temperature was twenty degrees at least. They picked up a pace and Shikamaru, Naruto soon realized, was walking to the right direction. From the bridge, he took a dirt path left, through the forest. That was off for a bit from where Naruto was sure he should go, but not enough to cause alarm. The Sun, even as high as it had gotten up in the sky, couldn't reach them though thick treetops. In some other situation, it would be pleasant to walk that path.

"It's not Sasuke we should worry about." Shikamaru said after the road could be seen any longer in the direction they came from. "They won't hurt him. Fugaku is counting on your friendship for Sasuke to awaken protectiveness so he wouldn't have to come to town to pick you up himself. They want that thing you have inside."

Naruto attempted to ignore the ease Shikamaru said that with and failed. "I told you, they won't even…"

"It's Hinata's sister, I think. There's no one else in the family who isn't too old already."

"They want to transfer the demon into Hinata's sister?"

"It's not a demon." Shikamaru repeated what he said when Naruto arrived at Kiba's earlier. "But yes, I think so."

But Itachi had some sort of plan to stop it. Naruto took comfort in that.

"I have to go there anyway." He admitted. "I can't just sit and do nothing, I'll go crazy."

"It would be better if you could." Shikamaru said. He wasn't trying to persuade him anymore, though, Naruto realized gratefully.

"What are you showing me?" He asked.

Shikamaru pointed out a sign so entangled in vegetation that Naruto would have missed it. "We're almost there, just wait a minute longer."

"Are we even allowed to be here?" Naruto asked, remembering all those warnings to keep out of the woods. Grass was so high it was almost covering the dirt path from both sides. It looked deserted.

"Of course we're not. But I have keys, my father used to work as a forester. So did my grandfather. It was a family business."

The cabin came into view finally. It was pretty, made of wood. Even though all the windows were whole and clean, and there was firewood lined up next to the door, it still gave out the feeling of desertion and loneliness. Naruto followed when Shikamaru took out a key and unlocked the door.

The insides were dusty but bright with sunlight. Behind the cabin, someone had cut out just enough of the forest to allow day light to break through. Shikamaru stopped in the middle of the room. Naruto joined him.

"Well?" He asked curiously.

Shikamaru walked around him, murmuring, "I'm sorry Naruto. I can't let you mess this up."

"What?" Naruto asked. Shikamaru was retreating toward the door. "What are you…?"

An invisible wall stopped him in place as he tried to follow. Naruto hit it with some force, so it bounced him off.

"What is this?" He demanded.

"It's just restrain for the spirit." Shikamaru said from near the door.

"You tricked me!" Naruto yelled, lunging forward only to hit the invisible wall again.

"I couldn't let you walk into that trap. I'm sorry. We are fighting, trapped in Konoha, for generations now. Against that thing inside you, against what the Uchiha family did to twist it so much. This is our chance, finally and I can't allow it to slip though my hands just because you are rash and stupid."

Naruto kicked the wall. "How did you do this?"

"There is a sigil under the carpet. It was one of the things I prepared, just in case. It's not meant to hurt you, but if you try to mess with it, it will burn you."

He turned to the door.

"You are just going to leave me here?" Naruto demanded. "What am I supposed to do?"

"You shouldn't do anything right now. That is sort of the point." Shikamaru returned. "But I will be back soon, with some food. I need to make sure if there was something else Hinata can help us with."

"And if I have to go to the bathroom? And I can't even sit down, this place is filthy!"

Shikamaru hesitated. After a minute, he brought a chair and an old pot to the middle of the room. Naruto tried to grab him, but Shikamaru knew exactly where the barrier was and avoided crossing it. He was annoyed at Naruto for trying it, though and he left without another word.

He should have known. Shikamaru gave in too quickly. He should have seen though the deception.

Naruto approached to the barrier again. He pressed his hand into it. It wasn't exactly like a wall, though it felt just as hard. There was something in it, something that was almost alive, buzzing and swirling under his palm. It didn't hurt at all. If anything, the sensation was pleasant, calming. Naruto wasn't ready to calm down, so he moved his hand off the barrier and kicked it again. His shoed foot couldn't feel the nice parts, it only confirmed that it was just like a wall in its harness.

Fired up by the pain in his foot, Naruto continued to kick and push and hit the barrier. There was just no way he could stay there and wait. Sasuke was locked in a basement - how could Shikamaru ignore that? Who gave him the right to decide for everyone else, who gave him the right to make decisions in Naruto's name? And also that girl, whatever her name, Hinata's sister. She was in that house also. Someone needed to get her out of there, right?

No matter how many times Naruto attacked the barrier, it wasn't giving way an inch. He was trapped, seriously trapped. In his stomach, panic rose, and it took him a couple of long seconds to realize that the fear wasn't his.

Naruto started laughing. He didn't sound very sane even to himself, but there as that irresistible urge to gloat, to taunt the thing inside him, to laugh at its fear of imprisonment.

He sobered and stopped the stupid fit, though with some effort. He also hated being bounded like this. Shikamaru could leave him there, in this obviously deserted cabin, to die. He didn't have to come back. Naruto could die of hunger and rot, right there on the old carpet that was not even red as it was before all the years and dirt that it took in.

Naruto stopped the pacing he wasn't even aware he had started. Hadn't Shikamaru said…?

He kneeled down and pulled off the carpet. It was heavy and Naruto's hands were in pain, bruised all over – he hurt himself far more than he realized when he was assaulting the barrier. But he eventually uncovered about a half of the drawing underneath it. There were a couple of points of some sort of circled star visible. It was done in plain white chalk, with some small, unreadable letters along the lines.

_That_ was what was keeping them trapped? Naruto snorted. It was just chalk!

He could feel his stomach stir violently, and he could almost hear the voice in his head – both clearly carried the warning in them. But it was too late, Naruto was already trying to wipe a line drawn on the wooden floor with the tip of his shoe.

It did not start with his foot; the hot, very painful sensation coursed though his entire body at once. It felt as if his blood had suddenly become molten metal that was rapidly cooling in his veins. Naruto dropped down until his forehead practically hit the floor, but the burning quickly wore off. Nothing was left behind it, even the bruising Naruto had earned earlier was not flaring any longer. Naruto panted in effort to make up the lack of breathing, still down on his knees and with his head between his elbows.

Right, then. Lesson learned: do not mess with the chalk on the floor.

Still breathless, his muscles trembling all over, Naruto sat on the chair, after dragging it until it was completely within the circle. He put his head in his hands, hating helplessness of the situation he was put in. Shikamaru knew what he was doing; Naruto was… properly restrained.

Trapped. Bound.

_Unable to hurt anyone. _

Between his hands, Naruto's lips stretched into a small smile. Silver lining, huh? But this wasn't a solution. He couldn't stay there forever. He'd go crazy. Or die hungry.

It was a lovely little cabin, though. There was only one room, grimy but clear and spacious. There was a bed that looked slightly newer and less dirty than the rest of the furniture in one side of the cabin; there was a low table and a very old looking wooden burning stove with several beaten cast-iron pots and pens lined up on top. The middle of the room was obviously cleared up; there was no furniture aside from Naruto's chair nowhere near the carpet in the middle. There was a row of empty or almost empty wooden shelves from the door left, and on the nails at the corners of it, there were hangs and wreaths of several kinds of dried plants, most unrecognizable to Naruto.

No matter how much he was staring around, nothing gave him any ideas on how to escape. The best he could do is to think up exactly what to say when Shikamaru comes back with the food.

If he did come back.

Shikamaru did come back. Unfortunately, he came back while Naruto was sleeping. Well, either that or the tray of sandwiches and bottle of water – and to Naruto's short-lived but excessive puzzlement, toilet paper – snuck into the cabin and inside of the circle on their own, which was unlikely.

Naruto considered not eating, and even kicking the package. It was not that he thought Shikamaru would poison him – he only didn't need to come back if he wanted Naruto dead, after all. But his stomach was making loud protests on its own; it was well past lunch hour – almost evening - when he had woken up. The crumpled carpet was not the best place in the world for sleeping and even though Naruto couldn't quite say that he had worse, it did suffice. It was warm and once the sun climbed over to the other side during noon, pleasantly dim inside. He'd exhausted himself while trying to break out and the shot of pain that resulted in him messing with the chalk on the floor was anything with helpful. Sleepiness had snuck on him while he was thinking up the things he wanted to say to Shikamaru and once he'd decided that there was no harm in taking a bit of a break, he had the most restful nap in days.

There were traces of headache behind his eyes, though…Maybe it was just stress. Maybe while he was napping, the thing inside him had tried to make its own way out. It obviously failed, so it was okay.

Naruto unpacked the food from plastic foil. There was no doubt from the first moment he had smelled it that it was chicken between slices of bread, so he bit into it without checking inside. It was as succulent as the smell had promised, spicy and rich – even better then fired chicken legs at the corner near his last apartment, where all the pretty waitresses wore pink aprons and big smiles. Naruto loved that place and enjoyed the vision of it while chewing.

The ancient doorknob squeaked as it turned, startling him. Naruto swallowed the mouthful of sandwich and got up on his feet. The door was opening slowly, with a lot of noise, as if the person outside dreaded what they would find inside. Naruto barely resisted the urge to yell when they stopped opening and everything fell silent.

Though the rather wide crack, something, an animal – a mammal? – squeezed in. Disappointed, Naruto watched as the head came in first, long muzzle up front and curiously erect ears on top. It was a raccoon. Naruto was sure of it; the black strap over the eyes of it was unmistakable. Its fur was so white it was almost gray, though the hair seemed to glow a lovely red along the back even after it moved out of the sun and deeper into the cabin. It was larger than Naruto imagined a raccoon would be.

It came right to the center of the room. It small, black eyes focused on Naruto instantly and it walked right to him, carefully slow but without wavering.

Busy staring at the animal, Naruto missed to notice all the hair on his body standing up. Once his skin started itching – almost hurting from it - he registered how the atmosphere in the cabin had shifted. It was like the air was thicker, richer in oxygen, like the wind breeze coming though now completely open door was full of electricity… And everything was brighter, more vibrant and in unearthly colors.

Naruto's skin might have felt if something was crawling over it, and his stomach might have been flipping up and down in a nameless emotion but he found that he was grinning widely in welcome anyway. He never saw a real raccoon before in his life, but it was very clear that this wasn't your normal specimen.

"Hello." Naruto whispered. The voice that came out of his dry mouth was hoarse and full of awe.

The raccoon stood up on the last two legs. It was tall – or was it still long? – probably a full meter, if not more. It titled its head and fixed Naruto with its shiny eyes even more intently.

"You are home."

For a second, Naruto was sure that he was the one who said it. It sort of… Sounded like him. It sounded like him singing, if he'd know how to sing. But it wasn't, he realized after a mere second of confusion. That was the raccoon and it wasn't really talking, it was more like its consciousness was echoing off the back of Naruto's skull.

He opened his mouth to answer and realized he couldn't. He couldn't push the words though, he couldn't make a sound. The raccoon was waiting though and Naruto realized with irritation and jealousy that it was waiting for the thing inside of him to answer, not him.

But the demon, the – _the fox_ was quiet. Silent, even. Maybe because of the presence of the raccoon, Naruto could clearly feel it inside, fearful and sulking, without losing himself.

"We have waited." The raccoon boomed inside Naruto's head again. "We will help."

Naruto tried answering again. He felt compelled to. You want to answer something as sweet as that voice, you wanted to impress it or even just make it pay attention to you. You needed to try.

As if to shake him out of it, pictures flashed though his mind. The bathtub with the foot on the edge; bare and deathly blue. Carcass of something small and fragile; fingers going down into a blood puddle. Running. Teeth sinking into flesh. Sex, as it would be, violent and bloody.

And emotions.

And screaming, of a child and something else, something not human and much stronger. Cutting symbols into skin, strange words that hurt like knives and make tears burn hot from pain. Mouth full of boiling liquid, colors that made eyes blind. Death, that was same like freedom for just a moment before it all started again.

Endless walls, endless lashes. Endless imprisonment.

All that was followed by the hunger for revenge, so deep and raw it overwhelmed Naruto's every sense until he dropped down to his knees, almost as when he had when the burning shot though him earlier. This time the pain wasn't physical, though the time it took to build up was edging on forever. It was clear in his head like few things ever were. That was where it was all coming from, all the bloodlust, all the anger and cruelty. Shikamaru was right. No matter how dark it felt, the fox that was trapped inside of Naruto wasn't a demon at all.

It was something once bright, like this raccoon, but blackened and twisted until it_ changed beyond words. Poisonous mankind, it ruined everything within reach. Played with things that were beyond their comprehension, beyond their capability to tame and cultivate. But they'd always find a way to use it anyway, though torture of imprisonment and experimenting if nothing else worked. Greed, the greatest, most horrible human sin…._

_And they should be punished_, Naruto added to the fox's strain of thought and something else came though him – gratefulness? Rightness? It didn't belong to him, though.

On his knees, he was eye to eye with the raccoon. They stared at each other, until Naruto understood that the pang in his chest wasn't leftover from what the fox showed to them, it was Naruto's alone. He was feeling sorry for the fox. He was sympathetic toward the vengeance plans, even as he was against them.

The raccoon fell back on all fours without a warning. It crossed the last two steps and used its paw to erase a bit of chalk that was making circle around the star. Then it turned and without a backward glance, left the cabin. The door was left open, swinging in the wind that was picking up.

Once the odd sparklesness of the air had disappeared, Naruto carefully tried to cross the barrier. He wasn't surprised when it worked. It just felt wonderful.

He was free.

Outside, the weather had changed at some point. Laden sky made the woods seem dark even though it wasn't nightfall yet. The wind was loud and harsh, but a lot of it was getting held back in the thick treetops once Naruto got out of the small clearing where the cabin was and into the forest.

In the hurry to get away from the trap, Naruto didn't think about which way he was going. He halted a little to orient and realized that he was already walking to the right direction. Whatever Itachi had done to his memories, it was wearing off. Or maybe he was removing it. Either way, it seemed as if it was coming apart one layer after another, and memories were slipping back into his head so easily and naturally that he would only notice after reaching out for information he needed. He couldn't remember people all that well yet, but this place, these woods… They were now so clear in Naruto's mind, he was sure he could find Sasuke's house with a blindfold on.

On maybe fifteen minutes of walking from where he was now, he would pass an old oak. It was one of the largest trees in the area, one of those the townsmen called The Elders. Not long after, he would have to cross a small river that several miles to the south was uniting with the larger one. Names of both of them were still escaped him, but the delta with whipping willows so bent over water it sometimes broke and carried away their branches with it was vividly clear in his mind's eye. He had spent many summer days out there.

On the other side of the smaller river, very close, there will be standing, tall and stony, the high walls that separated Uchiha grounds from the woods. Well, the woods were also theirs, but the walls were old enough to remember the times what that wasn't so.

By the time Naruto arrived to the oak, it had darkened completely. The moon wasn't even up yet, but he could always see well in the darkness. The vegetation was different than he remembered. Many trees had dried out, with blackened branches sticking menacingly up, as if trying to pierce the cloudy sky. The humus was not nearly thick enough; the ground seemed hard, grass and bushes that should have been growing all over scarce.

The small river was practically dry. There was just enough water to make some mud. Naruto jumped over easily, not even bothering to look for the tree trunk that used to be somewhere close by, placed over the river to make an emergency bridge.

The walls Naruto remembered as huge and practically as unconquerable as a fortress had crumpled at some point. They looked dangerously aged and crumbled, as if they were going down any moment now. There were even holes in moldered concrete. Red from the bricks they were build from, some gaps in the walls were like open wounds that just stopped bleeding. Naruto carefully jumped over a part that appeared to be in a slightly better shape than the rest.

The house was not far, though the lights weren't visible yet. Naruto forced himself to slow down and step forward carefully. There was a lot of wild grass, weed and ugly, dangerous bumps on the ground. When he was a kid, there had been a lovely garden in that part of the yard. Cherry threes had been lined up on one side, apricots on the other the dirt pats were separated by flowerbeds. At some point, or maybe slowly over the years, this part of the woods seemed to have gone to hell. It was sad to see it had changed for the worse in such degree.

Finally, several lights announced that he was at his destination. Once upon the time, it was a simple, albeit large house. During the last hundred years, the Uchiha residence was built on until it became an enormous mansion. A discomforting lack of symmetry in the way the wings were added and odd circular windows that seemed out of place. It made it seem redundant for some reason, if that wasn't just the consequence of his newfound awareness that some horrible things happened in that place.

The house was almost exactly as Naruto remembered it. The outer walls were a slightly darker and shabbier, but everything else was in its proper place. There was the big window a bit to the right from the front door, the one that belonged to the library. No one was using it at the moment, if the lack of light was anything to go by. The solarium – a long area all in glass on the right-handed side of the house – gave the impression of being stable, Naruto noticed with relief. That was his way in, because Itachi's room was directly over it.

Naruto carefully walked all the way around the house. It would have been too risky to cross the main path, which was about the only part that was very well illuminated. He claimed up the leaders that were once installed to hold up a crawling rose and, as quietly as possible, got up on the roof of the solarium. Carefully, he avoided to step on the windows left in the roof to take in midday sun. Sasuke's window was almost within the reach, now when Naruto was the size of a twenty-year-old instead of a ten-year-old. But he was used to sneaking in through Itachi's room, because he couldn't reach Sasuke's and Itachi was always in the library anyway, studying.

Then it came the hardest part. Naruto had to break the window. There was no other way. He was planning on doing that and then hiding behind the corner, where he would wait until people inside established that it must have been the wind, or a bird, and leave. Back when he was a kid, Itachi used to leave it open, just a bit, because of course he knew Naruto would sneak out of his bedroom and come there. It was kinda creepy, now when Naruto thought about it. Someone should have put a stop to it; he was just so young. And the woods were huge and dangerous.

Naruto pressed on, trying to see if the glass was double and how thick. To his surprise, the window opened under his hands, hinges squeaking in protest but doing their job smoothly. It wasn't really closed; it was just pushed all the way so it would seem like it was. Naruto's already racing heart picked up the pace as he slid though the black gap silently.

That was it. He was inside.

* * *

A/N: Yeah, so it's been awhile… I guess the tone of the story changed some.

Hope you're having fun reading this story.


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